Baptist Handbook FBaptist Handbook FBaptist Handbook FBaptist Handbook FBaptist Handbook For Church Membersor Church Membersor Church Membersor Church Membersor Church Members

By M. L. Moser, Jr.

It is a distinct principle with Baptists that theyacknowledge no human founder, recognize no humanauthority, and subscribe to no human creed. For all thesethings, Baptists of every name and order go back to theNew Testament. And while no competent Baptist historianassumes to be able to trace a succession of Baptistchurches through the ages, most of them are of oneaccord in believing that, if we could secure the records,there would be found heroic groups of believers in everyage who upheld with their testimonies and, in many cases,with their lives, the great outstanding and distinctiveprinciples of the Baptist churches of today.

Bureau of Census for 1926United States Department of Commerce

IThe Meaning of Church

MembershipGod is a God of order. One can hardly look at our

solar system without noting that it is a mechanism someticulous in its operation that everything must functionprecisely or else disaster and chaos would result. Godhas a plan for every saved person, and the church is inthe center of God’s plan for Christians today. But it isremarkable how many people claim to be saved by thegrace of God through Christ, yet in the same breath saythat they do not have to go to church to be a goodChristian. They certainly didn’t read that in the Bible.What they are looking for is a position that will freethem from any responsibility of being faithful to God’shouse. Perhaps if they knew the facts as seen in theBible concerning Christ and His church they would changetheir minds.

When our Lord supports something it is a good thingfor us to support it, and if He is against something weought to be against it too. The Bible tells us that Jesus

Foreword

For many years I have felt the need of a small bookon church membership, written from the viewpoint of anindependent Baptist, to place in the hands of members ofindependent Baptist churches to help them to know themeaning of church membership and to better understandthe doctrines and polity of Baptists, and particularly thereasons why we are independent Baptists and notaffiliated with one of the various and sundry organizationsamong Baptists. After consulting with other pastors, andbeing unable to find such a book, I decided to prepareone myself.

The book is intentionally brief, but an effort has beenmade to discuss the more important things an independentBaptist should know. In this revised edition we haveadded the chapter on Church Officers and then havemade extensive revisions on other chapters which wefeel add to the value of the book. It should be studiedwith Bible in hand since, in order to save space, mostBible references are given but not quoted.

It has been our intention to prepare this book in sucha way that it could be used either as a Study Coursebook over a period of two weeks (nine daily lessons, andone day for examination), or a class for new membersimmediately after they have joined a church. It is ourhope that this book will not only serve and meet the needfor the church of which I am pastor, but will also be atool and aid for other independent Baptist churches. Ifthe book proves a blessing in that it helps someone to bea better Baptist, its purposes shall have been achieved.

The book is also available in the Spanish languagehaving been translated in 1981.

M. L. Moser, Jr.Pastor Emeritus

Central Baptist ChurchLittle Rock, Arkansas

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THE BAPTIST CHALLENGE

www.centralbaptistchurch.org

M. L. Moser, Editor

Pastsor EmeritusCENTRAL BAPTIST CHURCH

15601 Taylor Loop Rd.Little Rock, AR 72223

Email: mlmoser1@juno.com

built the church Himself, and if He thought we neededit and built it for us, perhaps we ought to trust His wisdomand judgment and work and worship Him through Hischurch as He desires. The Bible says He loves the churchand He tells us we are to love our wife in the way thatHe loves the church (Eph. 5:25), and this gives us thedepth of His affection for His church of which you area member. Should your love be any less? If the churchis that dear to the heart of our Savior, shouldn’t yousupport it faithfully with your attendance and prayers?Christ died for the church (Eph. 5:25), and that aloneshould change the attitude of those who feel that churchattendance is not important.

Furthermore, Christ is the Head of the church (Eph.1:22). If the Lord Himself is the Head, is it not worthwhileto be a part of it?

You see, since God always works through plans,among His plans He prescribes how man is to worshipHim. During the time of the patriarchs the head of eachfamily was in charge of the worship. Since then, Godhas had three houses of worship: the tabernacle, thetemple and now the church. During the time of thetabernacle, God expected and commanded His people toworship and serve Him through the tabernacle. Followingthe tabernacle came the temple, and God expected andcommanded His people to worship and serve Him throughthe temple. Today we live in the church age and Godexpects and commands all Christians to worship andserve Him through a New Testament church.

Furthermore, God has a plan for those who havebeen saved to help them live amidst this world of sin andtemptations that we face while on this earth, and in thecenter of this plan for each Christian is a New Testament

church. God expects every Christian to be a member ofa New Testament church, for God does not save anindividual and then set him adrift to go through life servingself and not serving God. This book has as its purposeto help you determine what the will of God is concerningyou and your church and where it should fit into yourlife.

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“I’m now a member of an independent Baptistchurch.” There are thousands of people who utter thesewords with great joy each year as they are added to themillions of Baptists who also count it a great joy andprivilege to be a member of a Baptist church. Thesepeople have been saved, having received Christ as theirpersonal Lord and Savior, and they now have theknowledge and assurance that their sins are forgiven andthere is now peace in their souls. As Christians theyhave been obedient to the Lord’s command to followHim in baptism and to become a member of one of Hischurches, and this new relationship has given them greathappiness. Yet many who are proud to utter these words,“I’m now a member of an independent Baptist church,”fail to understand their true significance. Sometimes theylive for many years without ever knowing the truemeaning of church membership. This should not be true.

Every member of a Baptist church should know theseriousness and sacredness of church membership. It issurprising as to the number who hold membership in aBaptist church without realizing their privileges andopportunities or accepting their obligations. I am surethis is not intentional, but I am persuaded that they havenever been brought face to face with the real meaningof church membership, nor has it been adequatelypresented to them. This book is an effort to set forthsome of these things.

There are two questions that need to be answeredrelative to one’s being a member of an independent Baptistchurch. First, what is a Baptist church, and second, whatis an independent Baptist church. We shall seek toanswer both of these questions in this chapter.

What Is A Baptist Church?

Just what is a Baptist church, the organization towhich you now belong? It is a New Testament church.It may be said that a New Testament church is a visible,local, independent, organized congregation, composed ofbaptized believers associated and united together in thebelief of what Christ has said, and covenanting to do

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what He has commanded.The New Testament church is the greatest institution

the world has ever known. It was built by Christ duringHis personal ministry and He alone is its Head (Mt.16:18; Eph. 5:23; Col. 1:18). He promised perpetuity toit and said that the gates of hell would not prevail againstit (Mt. 16:18; 28:20). He gave it the commission and theordinances and died for it upon the cross (Mt. 28:18-20;1 Cor. 11:23-26; Eph. 5:25). Christ loved the church anddesires His churches to honor and glorify Him as Hisrepresentatives on the earth (Eph. 5:25-27; 3:21).

The greatest task ever assigned to any individual orgroup in the world’s history, the task of carrying theglorious gospel of Christ the Savior to the whole world,belongs to the Lord’s churches. The Great Commissionis unique in that no other commission like it has everbeen given or ever will be given. In fulfilling thiscommission, Baptist churches have done more for theworld than all other organizations of the world combined.

We see then that it is a great privilege to be membersof an independent Baptist church. These churches havehad a glorious beginning, a blood-written history, anillustrious present and bright future based on the promisesof God. Baptist churches have held true to God’s Wordthrough tribulations and persecutions, and their membershave been numbered among the faithful. Truly it is aprivilege indeed to be a member of a Baptist church, andespecially of an independent Baptist church.

Membership also brings us great opportunities: anopportunity for fellowship in the greatest institution thatcan be found; an opportunity for Christian growth anddevelopment and training through the church; and anopportunity for Christian service through the work of thechurch in its evangelistic program both to those at homeand around the world on the mission fields.

Membership also places upon us inescapableobligations: an obligation to make our church and its workfirst in our lives; and obligation to use our time and ourtalents for the glory of God; an obligation to the work ofthe church with our presence, our talents, our influenceand our means. Churches are never stronger than theirmembership and a membership of worldly, careless,negligent, stunted Christians will prevent a church fromaccomplishing much for the Lord. Your church’s need isfor every member to be consecrated, trained and enlistedin active service. Each of us is obligated to be the verybest member possible under the leading of the Lord.

What Is An Independent Baptist Church?

To many, an independent Baptist church is a strangephenomenon. Being accustomed to the various Baptistgroups, such as the Southern Baptist Convention, theAssociations, or one of the organized Fellowships (BaptistBible Fellowship or World Baptist Fellowship) and others,many people cannot comprehend the nature of a churchthat is not affiliated with any of these. For that reason,an independent Baptist church is looked upon with somesuspicion. Surely a church that stands “all by itself” mustbe very queer.

Actually, independent Baptist churches have existedsince apostolic times. Long before the ProtestantReformation began there were independent Baptistchurches in both Europe and Asia (see chapter V onBaptist History). An independent Baptist church,therefore, is nothing new or novel. It has an ancient andglorious heritage. Although in various periods of churchhistory members of independent Baptist churches havebeen persecuted and even slain for the faith, suchchurches continue until the present day. There are manythousands of independent Baptist churches in all parts ofthe world.

“What are the distinctives of a Baptist church?” onemay ask. They could concisely be set forth as follows:

I. A Church That is Self-governing.

The churches established by the apostles of Christwere all independent Baptist churches; that is, they werefree from any outside control or membership in any kindof an organization. The New Testament does not revealthe existence of any Convention, Association, organizedFellowship, Synod, Conference, or other form of humanorganization exercising control over the local congregationor even existing apart from a local independent church.Each local church was viewed as a self-governing body.

An aggregation of local churches was never lookedupon organizationally as a “church,” but always as“churches,” emphasizing the individual prerogatives ofeach congregation (Rom. 16:16; 1 Cor. 11:16). Each localchurch chose its own officers (Acts 6:1-6). Eachexercised its own discipline (1 Cor. 5:13). Churches werenot responsible to any higher ecclesiastical body, sincethere were none, but were subject only to God (Rev.2:4-5). Internal problems were handled by the individualcongregation (1 Cor. 6;1-5). The maintenance of puredoctrine was the responsibility of the local assembly (1Tim. 3:15; Rev. 2:14-16).

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The Holy Spirit directs each local group of believers(Acts 13:12). Such a church cannot be politicallypressured because it owns its own property (in contrastto many denominational churches whose property isowned or in some measure controlled by thedenomination).

In the important matter of calling a pastor, anindependent Baptist church is cast upon the Lord forguidance. While they may seek counsel from neighboringpastors or Christian schools, no one can force them toaccept a man they do not want. The congregation mustprayerfully consider the merits of a candidate and decidewhether or not he is God’s man for them.

Another important characteristic is the liberty enjoyedin the matter of missionary support. While pressure isexerted upon organized Baptist churches to support theirown denominational missions, independent Baptist churchesmay seek the will and direction of God regarding this.How did missionaries operate in Bible times? Theyoperated just like independent Baptist missionaries operatetoday. When they were called as missionaries by theLord, a church sent them out and supported themmonetarily. A good Bible example is Saul (Paul) andBarnabas who were called of God to be missionaries andwere sent out by the church at Antioch (Acts 13:1-4).Many independent Baptist churches send out membersof their own churches to both home and foreign fields,just as did the church at Antioch and other churches ofthe New Testament. The church at Philippi helped thechurch at Antioch by supporting Paul while he was onthe mission field (Phil. 4:15).

Proportionately, there are more independent Baptistmissionaries on mission fields than from the organizedgroups, and these missionaries are scattered throughoutthe world and on all continents. Churches not sendingforth their own missionaries, choose which of thesemissionaries to support, sending their offerings directly tothe missionary through the sponsoring church without thegreat overhead of the various types of organizations andmission boards or committees, many of them staffed bymen drawing more money than the missionaries. In thisway, 100% of the money goes to the missionary withnone being taken out for operating expenses or to paythe salaries of mission board executives.

The Lord’s churches have the responsibility to getthe gospel to the whole world. Naturally we can’t all goourselves but we can, through our churches, support thosewhom God calls to go just like it was done in the NewTestament. We should not only tithe a tenth of our income,but we should also set aside an amount for missionsover-and-above the tithe each week. This is also to be

given through the church just like it was given throughthe church at Phillipi in their support of the Apostle Paul.We cannot Scripturally give to missions unless we do itthrough a New Testament church. This is God’s plan forthe support of His work around the world. If we attemptto do missions using any other plan, we are going contraryto the revealed will of God.

Now that you are a member of a sound NewTestament church, God expects you to support itsmissionaries with a weekly mission offering for this isGod’s method for evangelizing the world. God’s way isalways the best way, and nobody has the authority tochange it. For this reason we need the church for propermissions-giving.

The position of independent Baptist churches may besummed up thus: they are absolutely free to obey God asthey see His direction and are under no obligation to anyother church or group of churches. In each phase oftheir service for the Lord they must exercise spiritualdiscernment.

Actually, therefore, the independence of a churchsimply enhances its dependence upon the Lord. This tendsto develop prayer and faith to cultivate spirituality amongthe members.

An independent Baptist church places properimportance upon correct Biblical doctrine. Among thedoctrines emphasized are the following: the verbal, plenaryinspiration and inerrancy of the Bible, the virgin birth,absolute deity, sinless life, atoning death, and bodilyresurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ, His high-priestlywork in heaven, salvation by grace through faith, thereality of Satan and his work, the person and work of theHoly Spirit, the pre-millennial coming of Christ, a periodof great tribulation on earth, the return of Christ toestablish an earthly kingdom, the judgment and eternaldoom of the lost, and the eternal reward of the saved.

Independent Baptist churches stand as a protest tothe religious unbelief (often called modernism, liberalismor neo-orthodoxy) that has engulfed so many of the largedenominations and is now invading the ranks of Baptists.Men claiming to be ministers of Christ deny the verbalinspiration of Scripture, question the virgin birth of Christ,deny the necessity of faith in the shed blood of Christ forsalvation, accept the theory of organic evolution, and inmany other ways oppose the historic faith. Yet suchmen are accepted as ministers in good standing in somechurch groups. In obedience to the Word regarding falseteachers (2 Tim. 3:5; Eph. 5:11; etc.) independent Baptistchurches refuse to cooperate with denominations andcouncils of churches, such as the World and NationalCouncil of Churches as well as the State and local

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Council of Churches.Independent Baptist churches stand firm for the

doctrines as laid down in the New Testament that haveseparated them from other denominations. We adhere tothe New Testament doctrine of the church, thus denyingthe modern doctrine of an invisible, universal church whichis unknown to the Scripture, and holding fast to theBiblical doctrine which identifies the church as a local,visible body. We hold fast to the Bible doctrines ofBaptism and the Lord’s Supper (the ordinances of thechurch), meaning that we reject “alien immersion” andreceive only Scriptural baptism, and practice the Bibledoctrine of Closed Communion. We do not maintain thesedoctrines simply to be “different” or to hold ourselves“aloof” from others, but because we sincerely believethe Bible teaches these doctrines and that, as a churchof the Lord Jesus Christ, we are obligated to obey Hiscommands in keeping (preserving or guarding) theseordinances as He has given them unto His churches (Jn.14:15).

II. A Church With A Bible-centered Program.

One of the first things many people notice about anindependent Baptist church is the fact that almost allmembers come to church with their Bibles. Not only dopeople bring their Bibles, but they use them in the regularservices of the church. The Bible is looked upon, not asan obscure religious textbook to be studied primarily bya priest or minister, but as the guide for every Christianand the source of instruction for his daily life.

The pastor uses the Bible in his pulpit ministry. Hereads from it and his congregation follows him insearching out various passages. He is not endeavoring tofoist upon the people some human observationsconcerning “religion,” but rather he is seeking to unfoldthe exact revelation which God has given us in the Bible.Preaching in independent Baptist churches is not simplydelivering some ethical or social precepts, but is anexposition of the written Word of God as found in theBible.

The educational program of the church is likewisecentered around the Bible. Every teacher teaches fromit. Most independent Baptist churches do not study theInternational Sunday School Lessons as most churchesdo where quarterlies are studied rather than the Bible,but they study the Bible book-by-book, studying one ortwo chapters each Sunday until the study of the book iscompleted. This is much better than using the typical“hop-skip-jump” method of the quarterlies, and there ismuch value in studying God’s Word directly. The same

is true in the Bible Study on Sunday evenings, for theBible is again studied directly, and in many independentBaptist churches, rather than a study of the Bible book-by-book as on Sunday morning, they study the Bibledoctrine-by-doctrine, covering every major Baptist (Bible)doctrine within a year’s time. This makes for a churchthat knows the Bible. The study of the quarterly systemwill not develop a church member with a real knowledgeof the Word of God. The study of the Bible does.

The same emphasis is seen in the missionary programof the church. Both home and foreign missionary effortsare geared to one purpose — the winning of the lost toJesus Christ. All the missionary work is simply a meansto the end of bringing people to read, understand andobey the Word of God. The primary aim of all missionaryand evangelistic effort is not social betterment but spiritualregeneration — personal salvation.

In recognition of the truth in all that has been writtenabove, independent Baptist churches are caused to placeloyalty to Christ and His Word above loyalty to an earthlyorganization or program. Everything is tested by the Wordof God, not by its relation to a denominational program.

Independent Baptist churches are seeking, as enabledby God, to perpetuate New Testament churches,remembering that the church is the “pillar and ground ofthe truth” (1 Tim. 3:15).

Thus we see that membership is a privilege and anopportunity which carries with it great obligations. Toomany members have not learned these things and theirchurch means little to them and they mean little to theirchurch. It has been said that 60% of the members of theaverage church are unenlisted and inactive. That conditionneeds to be changed. Will you help change it by makingyour membership really count for Christ and His church?

IIThe Church Covenant

The Church Covenant is a voluntary agreemententered into by members of a Baptist church wherebythey promise to conduct their lives in such a way as toglorify God and promote the ongoing of the Lord’s church.Every member should study it carefully and refer to itoften and seek to live up to it for it clearly outlines theobligations of church membership. The following ChurchCovenant with a few additions (shown in italics), is theone in general use by most Baptist churches:

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Church Covenant

Having been led, as we believe, by the Spirit of God,to receive the Lord Jesus Christ as our Savior, and onthe profession of our faith having been baptized in thename of the Father, and of the Son, and of the HolyGhost, we do now, in the presence of God, and thisassembly, most solemnly and joyfully enter into covenantwith one another as one body in Christ (Jn. 1:11-12; Mt.28:19-20).

We engage, therefore, by the aid of the Holy Spirit,to walk together in Christian love; to strive for theadvancement of this church in knowledge, holiness andcomfort; to promote its prosperity and spirituality; tosustain its worship, ordinances, discipline and doctrines;to give it a sacred pre-eminence over all institutions ofhuman origin; to contribute cheerfully and regularly tothe support of the ministry, the expenses of the church,the relief of the poor, and the spread of the gospel throughall nations.

We also engage to maintain family and secretdevotions; to religiously educate our children; to seek thesalvation of our kindred and acquaintances; to walkcircumspectly in the world; to be just in our dealings,faithful in our engagements, and exemplary in ourdeportment; to avoid all tattling, backbiting, and excessiveanger; to abstain from the sale and use of non-medicaland desctructive drugs and intoxicating drinks as abeverage, to shun pornography; and to be zealous inour efforts to advance the kingdom of our Savior.

We further engage to watch over one another inbrotherly love; to remember each other in prayer; to aideach other in sickness and distress; to cultivate Christiansympathy in feeling and Christian courtesy in speech; tobe slow to take offense, but always ready forreconciliation, and mindful of the rules of our Savior tosecure it without delay.

We moreover engage that when we remove fromthis place we will, as soon as possible, unite with someother church of like faith and order, where we can carryout the spirit of this covenant and the principles of God’sWord .

That these obligations outlined in this Covenant areall Scriptural may be seen as follows:

I. Salvation and Baptism (Jn. 1:11-12; Mt. 28:19-20).II Duties to the Church.To walk together in Christianlove (Jn. 13:34-35)

To strive for the advancement of the church andpromote its prosperity and spirituality (Phil. 1:27; 2 Tim.

2:15; 2 Cor. 7:1; 2 Pet. 3:11.To sustain its worship, ordinances, discipline and

doctrine (Heb. 10:25; Mt. 28:19; 2 Cor. 11:23-26; Jude3).

To give it pre-eminence in my life (Mt. 6:33)To contribute cheerfully and regularly (1 Cor. 16:2;

2 Cor. 8:1-24).To transfer my membership when I move and be

active in church work wherever I live (Acts 11:19-21;18:24-28).III. Duties in Personal Christian Living.

To maintain family and secret devotions (1 Thess.5:17-18; Acts 17:11).

To religiously educate the children (2 Tim. 3:15; Dt.6:4-7; Psa. 78:5-7; 48:13).

To seek the salvation of the lost (Acts 1:8; Mt. 4:19;Psa. 126:5-6; Prov. 11:30

To walk circumspectly in the world, to be just in ourdealings, faithful in our engagements, and exemplary inour deportment (Eph. 5:15; Phil. 2:14-15; 1 Pet. 2:11-12.

To avoid gossip and excessive anger (Eph. 4:31; 1Pet. 2:21; Col. 3:8; Jas. 3:1f).

To abstain from the sale or use of alcoholic beveragesand non-medical drugs. (Eph. 5:18; Hab. 2:15).

To be zealous in our efforts for Christ (Tit. 2:14).IV. Duties to Fellow Church Members.

To watch over one another in love (1 Pet. 1:22).To pray for one another (Jas. 5:16).To aid in sickness and distress (Gal. 6:2; Jas. 2:14-

17).To cultivate sympathy and courtesy (1 Pet. 3:8)To be slow to take offense, always ready for

reconciliation (Eph. 4:30-32).

IIIChurch Officers

The church of which you are a member is both anorganism (meaning something alive) and an organization,and just as organizations require officers, so does a NewTestament church. Your church has various officers butonly two of these are scriptural officers, pastor anddeacon, both of which are ordained. Other officers havebeen appointed as the need arose, such as treasurer,clerk and trustees, but these are not scriptural officersand are officers of expediency.

The pastor is looked upon as the “chief of staff” inthe church and this office has long been considered by

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Christians as the “highest office.” We will look at thesevarious offices individually.

The Pastor

While the pastor is an ordained officer of the church,you should understand what ordination does and does notdo. Gaines S. Dobbins in his book “The Churchbook,A Treasury of Materials and Methods” writes:

“Ordination, in the New Testament view, confers nograce, no ecclesiastical power, no special rights ofoffice not possessed by any other devout and trustedmember of a church by its authorization. Ordination issimply recognition and confirmation by a church of oneof its member’s evident call of God to the gospelministry” (pg. 51).

While it is the special duty of the pastor to preachthe gospel, Baptists believe that the Bible teaches veryplainly that every Christian man has the right to preachChrist to lost sinners. After the death of Stephen it issaid, “And they were all scattered abroad throughout theregions of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles” (Acts8:1). Yet, the office of pastor is a specially set-asideoffice designed by the Lord for the preaching of thegospel.

In the New Testament the pastor is called a bishop(1 Tim. 3:1-7) which means an overseer and is a descrip-tion of his work. He is also called elder (Tit. 1:5-7)which has reference to the dignity of the office, havingbeen derived from the Jewish synagogue where the wordelder was used in reference to an aged person. He isalso called a minister (Eph. 6:21; Col. 1:7), which meansa servant, showing that he is to serve in spiritual matters.The term pastor (Eph. 4:11) which is more commonlyused today signifies a shepherd, and this shows theprimary relation that he sustains with the church.

The pastor, being the bishop or overseer is to takethe oversight of the church (Acts 20:28; 1 Pet. 5:2).Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary defines the word overseeras “superintendent, supervisor.” He is responsible forthe pulpit and all preaching and teaching of the churchand is accountable to the Lord. He also administers theordinances and has the responsibility for carefullyinstructing and guiding the spiritual interest of his flock(Eph. 4:12).

The pastor has an authority not belonging to otherchurch members. Edward T. Hiscox in his book “TheBaptist Directory, A Guide to the Doctrines andPractices of Baptist Churches” says concerning this:

“Though pastors cannot rightfully assume authorityas being ‘lords over God’s heritage,’ yet there is a sensein which the ministerial office should command andreceive a deference rendered to no other. The Apostleenjoins that ‘the elders that rule well be counted worthyof double honour’ (1 Tim. 5:17) and, also, to ‘obey themthat have the rule over you, and submit yourselves’(Heb. 13:17). Here is a sense, therefore, in which theyare to rule, and the people are to obey” (pg. 21).

The pastor is placed “over” the church (1 Thess.5:12). There is a sense in which he “rules” in the church(Heb. 13:7; 1 Tim. 5:17; Heb. 13:24). He is made the“overseer” by the Holy Ghost (Acts 20:28). The word“double honour” as used in 1 Timothy 5:17 has referenceto the pastor’s salary, the word “honour” coming fromthe Greek word meaning “honorarium” and could be sotranslated. Your pastor is worthy of generous pay or“double salary” is what Paul is saying.

Because of the position of the pastor, there are certainresponsibilities placed upon the membership of the church.The pastor is to be followed (Heb. 13:7). There is an“obedience” and a “submission” to the leadership of thepastor (Heb. 13:7). This does not mean dictatorship,although pastors are often accused of this (1 Pet. 5:2-3).At times their scriptural place in the church may bechallenged. If so, the pastor must “take” the oversight ofthe church when challenged (1 Pet. 5:2).

Paul issued some special warnings to the churcheswhich were directed primarily through the pastor of thechurch. In Acts 20:28-31 Paul warned that problemscould arise from the outside (Acts 20:29) but that themore serious problems with much greater danger to thechurch would arise from the inside of the church. Thisdanger would be revealed by men (or women) “speakingperverse things, to draw away disciples after them” (Acts20:30). God has given us warnings about such men (orwomen) and told us what we are to do in regards tothem. We are to “beware of them” (Col. 2:8-10); “haveno fellowship with them” (2 Thess. 3:6); “mark them”(Rom. 16:17-18), etc.

In First Corinthians Paul issues a severe warningconcerning those who would destroy the church by causingdivisions. He says temple (church) defilers shall bedestroyed (1 Cor. 3:17). That he is referring to the churchof Corinth is seen by his reference again to the divisionsof the church (1 Cor. 3:22) which had previously beenmentioned in the first chapter (1 Cor. 1:11-13). Godpromises to destroy that individual who defiles, injures ordestroys one of His churches.

How these men are to be destroyed is not said, but

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no doubt it will be in accordance to their effort andeffect. The severity is such because of the indwellingSpirit in the church. Paul warns that divisions hinder thefull and complete blessing of the Holy Spirit, because thechurch is God’s dwelling place or “an habitation of Godthrough the Spirit” (Eph. 2:22). We cannot minimize theseriousness of this offence, for God hates “a false witnessthat speaketh lies, and he that soweth discord among thebrethren” and says it is “an abomination unto him” (Prov.6:16-19).

The pastor occupies the unique position as God’sspokesman in the church. His position is also unique inthat he has a divine call from the Lord. No other officerin the church has the divine call whether that office bethat of Youth Director, Music Director or Deacon. Onlythe pastor has the divine call. However, there is a sensein which God does direct certain ones into the field ofspecial service, such as a Youth Director, Music Directoror some other form of full-time service, but this is notthe same, nor should it be considered the same, as thatof the call of the pastor.

When the Lord directed the letters to the SevenChurches of Asia, they were given to the pastors (angels)of the churches who in turn would deliver them to thechurch of which they were pastor (Rev. 2 and 3). Themessage in each case was directed to the pastor (angel)of the church. What that pastor is to say is what Godwants the people to hear, and what the pastor delivers isas from the mouth, lips, heart and mind of the LordHimself (Ezk. 33:7). He that hears the messenger, hearsGod; he that obeys the messenger obeys God; and hethat despises the messenger, despises God (Lk. 10:16).It is through the pastor that Christ sends His messages,addresses His judgments, His rebukes and His directions.As long as the pastor keeps himself true to his properdoctrine and work, he should be followed.

Yet pastors are all fallible men — none are perfect.We must remember that every church member is alsofallible, whether he be a deacon, the oldest member ofthe church, or the youngest or newest member. It iseasy to take “pot shots” at the pastor, for he standsbefore all and his life is an open book for all to read.David, the “man after God’s own heart” (1 Sam. 13:14;Acts 13:22) made some serious mistakes, yet he was stillGod’s man. The Apostle Peter also made some seriousmistakes, not only when he denied the Lord at His trial,but also later, for the Apostle Paul withstood him to hisface (Gal. 2:11), yet he was still God’s man. Your pastorwill also make mistakes, yet he is still God’s man. Youneed not try to “take care of the pastor.” He is God’sman and God will take care of him.

I want to quote the following which was prepared byBro. Joe Hocking, retired pastor of the Bodine BaptistChurch of Oklahoma City. This was adopted by the BodineBaptist Church and entered into the permanent recordsof the church in November of 1981:

Regarding the Office of the Pastor

1. First he must be a man who has been calledof God to preach the gospel of Christ (1 Tim. 1:12;Eph. 3:7).

2. The Holy Spirit leads His preacher to aparticular field of service. The church, also led by theHoly Spirit, extends a call, asking him to consider beingtheir pastor and leader. The preacher accepts or rejectsthe church’s call.

3. Responsibilities of the pastor to the church.a. He is to preach the Word of God, all of it (2

Tim.3:16; 4:12).b. He is to oversee the ministries of the church, to

feed the flock of God (the church, all ages in the church),and to guard and protect God’s sheep and lambsfrom the wolves (Acts 20:28-30).

c. He is to care for the spiritual needs of God’speople (the church). By personal counseling; prayer andScripture helps; being on call 24 hours a day to minister whenever he is needed. Also, to minister to thesick; visit hospitals; minister and comfort the dyingand their families, preach funerals; marriage counseling; drug and drink counseling; conflicts betweenbrethren (peacemaker); weddings; etc.

d. He is to teach and administer the church ordinancesBaptism and the Lord’s Supper.

e. He is to seek God’s will for the direction of thechurch; to be faithful to pray for the church’s needs;to guide the church in the direction God leads as afaithful undershepherd. He is to formulate the plansto accomplish ministries, then to lead the church inimplementing these plans (c/f “Partnership Ministry”“Good-Neighbor Ministry” etc.

f. He is to oversee the administration of the church;to call business meetings as the need arises; to moderatethe business meetings; to make recommendations andto guide the affairs of the church and see that the willof the people (voice of the church) is carried out ashas been voted on by the majority (See above, Acts20).

g. The pastor is accountable to God for how heassumes his responsibilities. “Obey them that have therule over you, and submit yourselves: for they watch foryour souls, as they that must give account, that they

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may do it with joy, and not with grief: for that is un-profitable for you” (Heb. 13:17)

4. Responsibilities of the church to the pastor.a. The church is to pray for their pastor; for God to

give him wisdom to lead the church, and to willinglyfollow his leadership (Heb. 13:7).

b. The church is to submit to his God-ordainedauthority over the church, so that he may have a joyfulministry in the church (Heb. 13:7).

c. The church, especially the men of the flock, areto help him and be supportive of his pastoral ministry(See Exodus 17:8-13 — two men who held up Moses’hands in battle).

d. The church is responsible to provide his familyneeds as well as the expenses of running the operationsof the office he holds (1 Cor. 9:7-14; 1 Tim. 5:17-18).

e. The church is to protect the pastor and hisfamily from those who would go about sowing seeds ofdoubt and discord among the membership; casting ashadow upon his ministry and accusing him of misdeedsin the ministry. It is a dangerous thing to attack thissacred office; and equally as dangerous to allow othersin the church to do so (1 Tim. 5:19-20; Prov. 6:16-19).

f. The church should exercise firm church disciplineto those who refuse to live in harmony with the othermembers; who are bent on destroying the fellowship ofthe church (Mt. 18:15-19).

g. The church member should always consult thepastor first, on any problem or matter of concern, andnot spread talk around until it gets built up all out ofproportion (the devil will see to that). Most often, whenyou sit down with your pastor, with an open Bible andprayer, things will be clearly understood and resolved sothat peace can continue and that misunderstanding doesn’tcreate confusion.

h. There can be only one leader in a church.The pastor is that man. A church cannot survive whenit has a divided allegiance towards more than one leader.

i. When God is finished with the pastor in a church,He will lead him to another work. Unless he is foundunfit for the ministry, or is guilty of open sin, he is to berespected for the office he holds by all the members.

j. If any member of the church, after serious counselwith the pastor, still cannot follow his leadership, thatmember should, in the spirit of Christian love, quietlyseek another church and pastor where he or she canserve the Lord. If that same member persists in tryingto destroy the integrity and ministry of the pastor, he orshe should be dealt with in accordance with churchdiscipline as found in Matthew 18:15-19.

In summary your pastor needs your help if he is tobe the kind of pastor he wants to be and that God wantshim to be. He deserves your respect. Paul told the churchof Corinth to accept Timothy and to respect him (1 Cor.16:10). You need to trust your pastor. Some put himunder a microscope and scrutinize his every word anddeed.

Your pastor also needs encouragement. Tell him howhis ministry has helped or benefited you. Offer yourservices to him and make yourself available for work hemight delegate to you. When he becomes the object ofcriticism, don’t become a party to it. He has enoughproblems already without adding to them. Defend yourpastor against those who criticize him. Criticism, evenwhen the truth, is a way Satan has of getting your pastor“down in the dumps” and worse still, destroying hisministry.

Remember him on special occasions such as birthdays,anniversaries, and a year-end bonus with a church-wideoffering shows him your love and appreciation of hisministry.

By all means pray for your pastor. This was one ofPaul’s most frequent requests. Your pastor needs menlike Aaron and Hur (Ex. 17:8-12) who will pray for himand hold up his hands and support him in order to helphim be the kind of pastor God wants him to be. God doesnot want church members to tear down a pastor but tohold him up and build him up with their support andprayers. It is then that God’s blessings will be poured outupon the church, and your pastor will be a better man ofGod.

The Deacon

The office of deacon is the second ordained officewithin the church, and just as the ordination of the pastorconferred no ecclesiastical powers or special rights,neither does it with the deacon. The great over-alljustification for the office of deacon was its creation tohelp the pastors. If there is any way that deacons canset preachers free, not so much as “free from” as “freeto” do certain things, it certainly should be one of theprimary duties of deacons. Deacons are also to providean effective force of leadership, though it is recognizedthat all deacons do not lead.

We must also keep in mind that the movement ofleadership is forward and not backward. Sometimesdeacons drag their feet and instead of moving forwardthey want to either sit still or move backward. Theyseem to feel that it is their special assignment to keepthings from moving too fast, apparently on the theory

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that someone has to object. But, if deacons, placed intheir position by the Lord and the church are committedto a New Testament program of evangelism in theirchurch under the Spirit of God, the church will moveforward. Stephen got results and so will any deacon sodedicated. The man with aspirations to be another Stephencan count on God’s help.

The man who agrees to serve as a deacon in a NewTestament church agrees to be an example, to the limitof God’s enduement, in all the life of the church. He isto be an example in spirit, love, devotion and loyalty. Adeacon should be as loyal in the program of the churchas the preacher is. He should be an example in everyrealm. This certainly means an example in attendance.How would it be if the membership of the church attendedTraining Union, Wednesday night’s service, visitation nightor revival meetings like the deacons? Examples, to beeffective, need to be seen. There are other areas suchas tithing and soul-winning and the churches visitationprogram where the deacon will commit himself toexampleship.

The deacons should also have certain secularqualifications. These receive minor treatment in theScriptures, but because of the things they were to do, itwas taken for granted that they would represent the bestof human leadership.

In reading over the qualifications of deacons in bothActs 6:1-8 and in 1 Timothy 3:8-13 one can see that nodeacon has all of the biblical qualifications brought toperfection. This may cause a man to feel that he is notqualified to be a deacon for he recognizes his ownweaknesses. But one must remember that preachers havethis same feeling. As pastors look to the New Testamentand read what God expects of them they too feel ashamed,unworthy and inadequate. One should not be surprised tofind this same feeling in men asked to serve as a deacon.A church, therefore, should not expect to find perfectmen to fill the office of deacon, for none of us will attainor obtain that perfection until it is realized in heaven.One should never decline the office of deacon “becausethey are not good enough” for they will never get anybetter by declining opportunities to serve the Lord andHis church. One should expect that as a sincere andsaved man who has to a degree some of thesequalifications, he will continue to grow spiritually, so thereshould be improvement in his spiritual life the longer heserves as a deacon.

One should not minimize the importance of this officewithin the church, for the deacons more than anyoneelse have the ability to “make or break” the pastor of thechurch. When the deacon thinks of the preacher in the

light of the New Testament teachings, there ought to bea conviction that God created the office of deacon inorder that it might make the pastor’s ministry moreeffective. The deacon should uphold and extend theministry of the man that God has called to serve aspastor. They in a sense are the cabinet of the pastor andthe pastor will share with them the responsibilities andlabors of the watchcare of the church. Deacons are tobe in full sympathy with the pastor and give him their fullcooperation, else there will be constant strife within thechurch. If a deacon reaches that point where he cannotsupport the pastor and follow his leadership, he shouldresign his office rather than becoming a constant irritantto the pastor or even worse still, become the leader ofa faction in opposition to the pastor. Dobbins in his bookThe Churchbook says deacons “are to be zealous toguard the unity of the spirit within the church in thebonds of peace” (pg. 14).

It is well to have a conviction about the NewTestament church that harmony in the church is not simplyto be desired but is divinely commanded. In fact, anythingshort of that is heresy. The oft-repeated phrase thatBaptists can be recognized because they are “fussy” isprovocation for righteous indignation. The devil startedthat, and it is a bit of his ingenious propaganda. There isnothing religious or Christian about a fuss, nothing at all.Harmony is the New Testament pattern; it is the Spirit’sdesire. A departure from harmony is a departure fromthe will of God and is therefore sin.

There is much confusion as to the work and authorityof deacons today, so we must look carefully at the NewTestament to learn just what are the duties andresponsibilities of deacons. Dobbins in his book TheChurchbook previously cited says:

“Deacons are servants of the church. Only withinrecent years has the body of deacons been referredto as the “board.” The objection to this designation isthat it may somehow imply that deacons are managersrather than ministrants. Deacons are not to giveorders to the church; they are to receive instructionsfrom the church. Deacons are not to decide for thechurch, they are to carry out the decisions of thechurch ... They should never arrogate to themselvesany authority for running the church. Their greatestservice to the church will usually be found in theirassistance to the pastor” (pgs. 65-66).

Robert E. Naylor in his book The Baptist Deaconsees this same danger and writes:

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“There are churches where deacons haveappropriated to themselves authority which iscontrary to New Testament teaching. It may havegone so far that ‘bossism’ has developed. There is a‘board’ complex and a general feeling that deaconsare ‘directors’ of the church. Nothing could befarther from the Baptist genius of the New Testamentplan” (pg. 3).

A little further on, Naylor under the sub-heading“Promoters of Church Harmony,” writes:

“Another need met by these seven men in thesixth chapter of Acts was that they became protectorsand promoters of church harmony. How serious thebreach in fellowship had become in the Jerusalemchurch is not certain. The expression ‘a murmuring’is dramatic enough. Someone was needed to pour oilon the troubled waters. These deacons were God’sanswer, and they healed the breach and restored thefellowship. This work of the seven is not to beforgotten. Unfortunately, deacons do not alwaysserve thus in modern churches. Sometimes a factionin the church is ‘deacon led.’

“When a man becomes a deacon, he loses theprivilege, if such exists, of participating in a churchrow. A member in the ranks may claim that oftenabused privilege, ‘speaking his mind.’ When a manbecomes a deacon — selected and called by the HolySpirit, chosen by a church, dedicated by personalchoice — he forfeits the right to promote, in anyfashion, a division in the life of the church.

The one inescapable duty of the deacon in theNew Testament was the protection of the churchfellowship. When things arise that are divisive, it istime for a deacon who believes the Book to stand upand say: ‘We cannot do it this way in this church. Wemust have harmony and peace if we are to honorChrist.’ That could make the difference between agreat, fruitful church and an ineffective, dried-upone. If deacons were needed then for such harmony,they surely are needed now. The kind of world inwhich church fellowship must thrive demandsdeacons” (pg. 11).

The office of deacon was first established by theApostles in the church of Jerusalem to assist them in thedistribution of goods to some of the Grecian widows whofelt they were not being looked after properly. When thetwelve discovered that the business of distributing thecontributions to the poor saints occupied too much of

their time, they “called the multitude of the disciples untothem, and said, It is not reason that we should leave theword of God, and serve tables. Wherefore, brethren,look ye out among you seven men of honest report, fullof the Holy Ghost and wisdom, whom we may appointover this business. But we will give ourselves continuallyto prayer, and to the ministry of the word” (Acts 6:1-4).Williams Rutherford in his book Church Members’Guide for Baptist Churches says:

“It will be seen that the first duty imposed upondeacons was to attend to the wants of the poor ...Very few deacons seem to feel that attention to thepoor is a part of their duty, when it was the very dutyfor which deacons were first appointed” (pgs. 76-77).

This is commonly referred to as “The Table of the Poor.”In addition to the “table of the poor” since the deacons

are to work very closely with the pastor, they are alsoto serve the “table of the pastor.” This is a duty that hasbeen given to them by custom, but they should makerecommendations to the church if they should see thatthe pastor’s needs are not adequately taken care of bythe church. As J. M. Pendleton says in his ChurchManual:

“Deacons must serve the pastor’s table. It is notfor them to decide how liberally or scantily it shall besupplied. The church must make the decision, andenlarged views should be taken when it is made; forthe energies of hundreds of pastors are greatlyimpaired by an incompetent support” (pg. 34).

How long should deacons serve? Some churches havea custom that once a deacon is elected as an activedeacon in the church, he remains such for life unlessremoved for disciplinary reason. This does not allow forany of the younger members of the church to occupy theoffice of deacon where such is the custom. It is possiblein such cases, especially where the number of deaconsis limited to a small number, that the deacons may all beabove 50 years-of-age and none of the younger men ofthe church will ever be able to serve in the office ofdeacon until the older deacons gradually die from oldage. Did God intend for deacons to remain active in thechurch until their death? Actually the Bible does not sayanything about the term of office. It is strictly traditionand custom.

The majority of churches have a system wherebythis can be avoided and it is by means of rotating deacons.

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Dobbins in his book The Churchbook describes it inthis way:

“How long shall deacons serve? A deacon, dulyelected and ordained, is obviously a deacon for life,unless his deaconship should be voided by the church.But this does not mean that he is to be in activeuninterrupted service as deacon for the whole of hislife. In a given church there may be several ordainedministers who hold membership, yet only one of themserve as active pastor. Likewise there may be anumber of ordained deacons in a church, but onlythose of them in active service whom the churchdesignates.

“The plan of rotating deacons in service hasgrown in favor among the churches. This plan providesthat a deacon shall be elected to serve for a limitedtime. In beginning the plan, a church usually designatesone-third of the deacons to serve for one year, one-third to serve two years, one-third to serve threeyears. The order of service may be determined bypriority of original election. At the end of thedesignated term of service, the deacon is usuallyineligible for re-election until the lapse of a year”(pg. 68).

By following such a plan of rotation, some of theyounger men of the church can have the opportunity ofserving as deacon as well, and often times, they may beable to serve better because of their youth.

An effective use of deacons in some churches is adivision of the church roll into equal family groups witheach group being assigned to a deacon. As a member ofthe church, you and your family will be assigned to adeacon. He is to feel an especial concern for you andwill be in contact with you should any need arise. If youshould become absent in your attendance at church, hewill probably visit with you or at least call you on thetelephone first in order to see if you have needs that hemight help you with. Of course, any needs he finds willbe brought to the attention of the pastor. We hope thatyou will assist him by taking the initiative to contact himwhen you do have needs whether they be in cases ofsickness or spiritual.

Other Officers

Church Clerk. The business of the clerk is to keepa record of the proceedings of the church. It is thereforeimportant for the clerk to be present at every service ofthe church and maintain an accurate record of all actions

of the church. In case he is absent from a service, it ishis responsibility to see that someone is there to recordthe activities of the church for him. Dobbins in TheChurchbook says concerning this office:

“He should be regular in attendance, interested inevery phase of the church’s life, quick to perceivethe difference between essentials and nonessentials,reliable and trustworthy. The efficient clerk, is morethan a recorder of minutes of business meetings. Theclerk, if he magnifies his office, is the church’shistorian. He records interestingly all significantevents as they transpire — the services Sunday bySunday, special occasions and meetings, deaths andfunerals, marriages and births, building projects andlocal missions, progress of the several organizations,election of officers and change of pastors ... Theclerk will use every endeavor to keep the churchmembership roll in good order” (pg. 70).

A clerk can however write too many details. Wherediscussions are held and there are differences of opinionsexpressed by the members, it is better to simply give asummary of the opinions expressed rather than to tryand record every word that is spoken, and it is alsobetter not to mention the names of those speaking lest inlater years it cause some embarrassment either to themor their familles. Only pertinent dates, motions, anddecisions should be recorded.

For the protection of church records, the church clerkshould provide copies of all minutes to the pastor to bekept in the church office. This will provide duplicatecopies of all church records so that in case of fire, atleast one copy will have been preserved. I know of onechurch, Central Baptist Church in Little Rock, whereseveral years of church records were lost due to a fire.The church clerk maintained the records in his garagewhere he did his work, and the garage burned destroyingseveral years of church minutes and records. If duplicaterecords had been provided to the pastor, a copy of thoserecords would have been preserved.

Treasurer. The treasurer is also elected by thechurch. He may or may not be a deacon, though traditionhas assigned this work to deacons though there is noscripture that assigns them this work. Needless to say,he should be a man of unquestioned integrity. If possible,he should also be acquainted with good businessprocedures, skilled in bookkeeping and accountancy,accurate and dependable in all his work. Monthly reportsshould be provided to the pastor as well as to the church.

Trustees. Trustees are not scriptural officers but

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cooperation. If the time should come when there is eithera loss of confidence or a failure to give the pastor theirfull cooperation, then it should be the duty of that one toresign or else the pastor has the right to relieve him ofhis position in order to seek someone who will give himtheir full cooperation.

Bro. Joe Hocking, retired pastor of the Bodine BaptistChurch of Oklahoma City prepared the following set ofguidelines which govern the relationship between thepastor and the church staff which were accepted andentered into the permanent records of that church.

Information Concerning Church StaffMembers

A church staff members is a church employee,hired by the pastor to assist him in a particular areaof church work. He is under the direct supervision ofthe pastor and is responsible to answer to the pastoronly in regards to his work assignments.

1. A staff member is asked by the pastor to comework on his staff; to perform the duties assigned tohim by the pastor. The church members do not assignwork for the staff members to do. A staff member isnot called by the church as is a pastor.

2. The pastor is responsible to assign the work ofthe staff member; to assist him by teaching andinstructing him in the various ministries for which hewill be responsible. The pastor is to observe his workhabits, check his progress and see that theirassignments are done properly, just as any supervisoron any other job would be responsible to do.

3. As the staff member works under thesupervision of the pastor, he can also be dismissedfrom employment by the pastor should this ever benecessary.

4. The pastor, not the church, is responsible tomake any recommendations for salary or benefitsfor the staff member. The pastor alone is the onlyone who is qualified to recommend these since heworks with the staff member on a daily basis, and isthe one who knows the actual worth or progress ofhis staff members. The pastor will recommend raisesfor his staff members, on a regular basis, for churchapproval, and when, in the pastor’s opinion, thechurch can afford to do so from a financial standpoint.

5. A pastor’s assistant is a strictly technical typework. He has absolute ly no pastoral dut ieswhatsoever. He should not be consulted by anymember on a matter of a pastoral nature.

6. A pastor’s assistant is an “hourly” employee,

secular officers required by the laws of the various states.Since they are required by the state, their duties andnumber may vary from state to state. They are notconsidered officers of the church but are the legalrepresentatives of the church and act on behalf of thechurch in all legal matters including the buying, sellingand holding of the church property. They may or maynot be chosen from the deacons. Title to the churchproperty is held in the name of the trustees. Shouldoccasion arise for the church to sue or be sued, thetrustees are its legal representatives. Since trustees holdsuch legal and financial responsibilities for the church’sphysical well-being, it is the decision of some pastorsand churches to have the trustees involved in monthlymeetings as a group, combined with the deacons or withall church officers, to keep current on the physical needsof the church buildings and property, as well as to makerecommendations to the church concerning financialmatters.

The trustees are subject to the church’s directionand they have no authority except as it is granted tothem by the church. They are entirely under the directionof the church and are not an independent body. Theycannot hold, use, nor dispose of the property placed intheir hands except as instructed by the church.

In many churches the trustees are elected on arotation basis as are the deacons. Dobbins in his bookThe Churchbook says concerning them:

“Committee of trustees, one-third of whom shallbe elected at each annual meeting to serve for threeyears, and, until their successors shall be appointed,will hold in trust the property of the church. Theyshall have the actual care of the place of worship, butshall have no power to buy, sell, mortgage, lease ortransfer any property without a specific vote of thechurch authorizing such action” (pg. 19-20).

Church Staff. There are others that are often addedto a church position that have been called the “ChurchStaff.” These are referred to by various titles such asAssistant Pastor, Associate Pastor, Assistant to thePastor, Educational Director, Music Director, YouthDirector, Church Custodian, etc. It should beunderstood that each of these work under thesupervision of the pastor and that he alone has theresponsibility of choosing them, or if necessary,relieving them of their duties. Needless to say, it isimperative that each member of the church staff musthave the full confidence of the pastor and must work incomplete harmony with him, giving him their full

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who is not required to perform any duties after workhours (40 hours per week).

7. Any staff member who is asked by the pastorto come work on his staff is thoroughly aware of allthe above items, and has agreed to them before heis placed on the church staff.

8. The church should be aware of the above itemsand never seek to change this work relationshipbetween the pastor and his staff. The church shouldrespect the pastor’s office in regards to who workswith him, and of the pastor’s and staff member’sneed to have this understanding.

9. To disregard the above will produce conflict inthe church; eventually friction between the pastorand staff member, and will end in a dismissal of staffmember when the pastoral “chain of command” isnot adhered to just like in any other job where youhave a supervisor or manager.

IVChurch Growth

Every saved person should have a desire to growspiritually. This is Scriptural, for the Lord commanded in2 Peter 3:18 “Grow in grace,” which simply means “growspiritually.” When we are saved we are not immediatelyfull-grown Christians, but “babes in Christ.” As babes,the Lord commands us to “grow.” To remain a “babe”is a shame and a tragedy. Only by growing in spiritualitycan we please God and glorify God in our lives

How can a Christian “grow in grace”? Are therecertain principles we can follow that will help us grow ingrace? Yes, and we list some of these principles.

1. Know that you are saved. It is impossible togrow as a Christian if you are not one. Jesus toldNicodemus “Ye must be born again” (Jn. 3:3, 7). Johnsays, “But as many as received him, to them gave hepower to become the sons of God, even to them thatbelieve on his name: which were born not of blood, norof the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but ofGod” (Jn. 1:12-13). Make sure of your salvation. Youcannot grow spiritually if you are unsaved.

2. Join an independent Baptist church and go towork for the Lord just as soon as you have beensaved. You cannot live as good a Christian life outsidethe Lord’s church as in the church. You cannot growspiritually if you do not obey the Lord’s first commandfor you as a Christian. Christ loved the church and gave

Himself for it (Eph. 5:25), and He wants us to love it andgive ourselves to it. We should not only unite with thechurch, but we should attend all its services. Go to workin the church. Make it the most important interest andactivity in your life. The Bible says, “Seek ye first” thework of the Lord, and we must do this if we are togrow.

3. Begin regular Bible study and prayer. TheBible is God’s Word and was written for and to us. TheBible is God talking to us and prayer is God’s childtalking to God. You should read God’s Word. Read itthrough. Read it by book, by subjects, and by all means,read it daily. The more you read it, the more it will meanto you. You should study it at home. It is important tohave a special time with the Bible each day (2 Tim.2:15), but there needs to be more. This is where thepreaching and teaching of a Bible-centered church comesin. Jesus gave the responsibility of teaching to the church(Mt. 28:20). Because the church has the responsibility ofteaching it, it behooves us to take advantage of it. It isall according to God’s plan. Not only is an individualinstructed to study (2 Tim. 2:15), but God also instructsthe church to teach him (Mt. 28:20). When both theindividual and the church cooperate together in the studyof the Word, it results in the spiritual growth of thebeliever. The church services are not enough food all bythemselves, for we need time at home spent in Biblereading and study, but nothing is quite like sitting undera godly man who teaches the Bible.

We need the church because we need thenourishment. As has been said so often “this Book willkeep you from Satan, and Satan will keep you from thisBook.” It is equally true that a good sound NewTestament church will keep you from Satan, and Satanwill keep you out of a good sound New Testament churchif you let him. Remember that!

Then you should pray. Pray about everything. Praydaily, pray as you work, and as Paul says, “Pray withoutceasing” (1 Thess. 5:17). The best thing for a home isto have a “family altar” when all the family gatherstogether for Bible reading and prayer. If you don’t haveone, begin one today.

4. Have Christian Fellowship. Being a Christian,you are in the minority. Christ said it would be like that(Mt. 7:13-14). Because of this you probably feel quitealone unless you are active in a good church. Most ofyour neighbors are not Christians. Most of those youwork with or go to school with are lost, and for thisreason you will have a hard time finding anyone you canfellowship with who believes like you do unless you findthem within your church. Remember, the fellowship of

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the world (your unsaved neighbors, friends, schoolcompanions, or fellow workers on the job) will hinder oreven prevent your spiritual growth and cause your lovefor Christ and His church to grow cold (1 Jn. 2:15).Your closest friendships should be with other Christiansand members of your church. Who else is going to prayfor you when you have problems and burdens? Visittheir homes, and invite them into your home. With yourfriends within your own church you will find that thisfriendship will enrich your life, and it will give you greatstrength in resisting temptation and aid you in growingspiritually. Few Christians who are out of the church aredoing much for the Lord. They get no Christian fellowship,encouragement or motivation. You need the church forfellowship and spiritual growth.

5. Separate yourself from the world (2 Cor. 6:14-18). The world is against God (1 Jn. 2:14-17). We are inthe world, but we are not of the world. Therefore, youshould separate yourself from everything that is worldlyand that would hinder your work for Christ. As long asyou hold on to worldly things you cannot grow spiritually.

6. Develop and use your talents for the Lord.Every Christian has abilities and talents that he can usefor the Lord. When the Lord saved you He gave you atleast one spiritual gift (1 Cor. 12:11). The reason He hasgiven you these gifts is that you might be used by Himin His overall plan for mankind. This shows yourimportance to God: you do have a place in His planningsomewhere.

A spiritual gift is an ability to do a job. These arelisted in the Bible and the best way to understand theirpurpose can be seen in chapter twelve of FirstCorinthians. The Lord here compares the church to ahuman body in its operation, and just as a person is notall that he could be if parts of him are missing or notworking, so it is with your church. God sets members inthe body (church) as it pleases Him (1 Cor. 12:18) forHe knows which gifts are needed in which church, andHe leads and directs each Christian to the church thatneeds his gifts or abilities. That person then becomes apart of that body using his gifts to help it function properly.What does all this mean for you? God has a church foryou that you might function in that church using yourgift to help. You may have the gift of teaching; thechurch needs teachers. You may have the gift of leading;the church needs leaders. Use your abilities to speak, tosing, to handle business, or as a mechanic, carpenter orplumber, or you may visit shut-ins or simply help othersfor you can be an encouragement to others in need. Thechurch needs all of these and more.

This means also that we need the church in order to

use our gifts in the way God intends. The church needsyou and you need the church. Look at what God saysabout growth and how the church operates. “From whomthe whole body fitly framed together and compacted bythat which every joint supplieth, according to the effectualworking in the measure of every part, maketh increasein the body unto the edifying of itself in love (Eph. 4:16).When every joint (member) supplies that which he can(through his gifts) the body (church) works effectuallyand grows, and is edified in love. If you did not understandthat, read that verse again carefully.

Christian, you are robbing somebody and some churchout of a blessing when you sleep in during morningservices or you let a football game or sports activityprevent your attendance at church or you simply are justtoo lazy to go to church. Your church needs your God-given gift or gifts; that is why God added you to thebody. If you are saved and not a member of anindependent Baptist church, you are hindering God’s planfor you and His church. You need the church to fulfillGod’s plan for your life. God gave you your gifts and Hehas a church in which He plans for you to sue them.Remember, this is God’s plan, and God’s way is alwaysthe best way. You need the church in order for God touse you by way of the gifts you have received from Himwhen you were saved. The church needs the talents ofevery member. Dedicate your talents to Him today (1Cor. 12:12-31).

7. Read good books and good Christianliterature. Every home should have good religious booksand papers. Subscribe for some of the monthlynewspapers published by independent Baptists. I publishThe Baptist Challenge which is available on theinternet:

(www.centralbaptistchurch.org/challenge.htm)

which I believe should be in every Christian home, andthere are other good papers published by otherindependent Baptists also.

Buy good religious books. Don’t waste time onunclean and filthy books and magazines. Remember toothat all religious books are not good. Consult your pastorif you are in doubt. The Challenge Press is continuallypublishing good books that should be read by allindependent Baptists, and this list of books is increasingeach year.

8. Be honest with God with your money. One-tenth of your gross income (income before deductions)belongs to God. Bring your tithe to God’s house every

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Lord’s day. The church where you are a member isGod’s storehouse today and this is where your tithebelongs. If the church is not worthy of your tithe, itis not worthy of your membership, and you should seekmembership in a church that is a sound and independentBaptist church, even if that church be in another city.Better to have your membership in a Bible-believing andBible-practicing independent Baptist church in anothercity and support that church with your tithes and offerings,than to put your money and influence in a worldlymodernistic church that either denies the fundamentalsof the faith themselves, or supports those who do denythe Word of God, as is so true with the churches of theConventions.

If you are dishonest toward God in money matters,you cannot grow spiritually. Study carefully the chapteron this further on in this book.

9. Exercise self-control. Satan continually will tryto hinder your Christian life and the Lord’s work bybringing jealousy, quick temper, selfishness into your life.Such a spirit is of the devil. If any of these appear inyour life, destroy them by prayer and Bible study.

10. Seek the counsel and help of your pastor.Your pastor is one of the best friends you have. God hasset him in the church to help you, to teach you, and tolead you. Confide in him. There is not a more difficultjob than pastoring a church, so pray for him. Work forhim. When you are in trouble he will be ready to helpyou. When you are tempted, he will help you fight yourbattle with Satan. When you need spiritual guidance youwill find no better earthly friend than your pastor. Seekthe fellowship of your pastor, for as you walk with him,you will be walking closer to God, for he is God’s man.

11. Live for Christ one day at a time. Eachmorning you awake, you find that God has given you anew day to use for Him. Live for Him every minute ofit; in your business, at your job, in your home, at school,in your social relationships, and on the streets. Don’t bejust a Sunday Christian, but live for Christ every day andtwenty-four hours per day.

Another thing about living for Him one day at a timeis that if you fail, as you sometimes will, then only oneday is ruined. If this happens, then get on your knees,confess your sin, and ask God to help you do better thenext day. As you live for Christ one day at a time youwill soon be living weeks and months and years for Him.This is the way to victorious living. If you do fail, don’tgive up but try to do better next time. Peter failed bydenying the Lord, but he didn’t give up. He came to theLord and was forgiven and became the mighty preacheron the day of Pentecost. Don’t give up! Get up, get

right, and go on for God!12. Win others to Christ. The greatest work in the

world is soul winning, and every Christian can and shouldbring others to Christ. Dedicate yourself to it today. Prayfor the Lord to lay some soul upon your heart. Praymuch for that person, and then go and talk to himpersonally about his soul. Paul’s method was to tell ofhis own experience, and everywhere he went he gavehis testimony of how God saved him. Use your personaltestimony in witnessing to others. Use the Bible in talkingto the lost, for it is the “sword of the Spirit” (Eph. 6:17)and has life and power in its words. When they havebeen saved, then lead them to openly confess Him beforemen and to follow the Lord in baptism and churchmembership. This work will give you the greatest joyyou have known as a Christian (Psa. 126:5-6).

Spiritual growth is possible. Seek it!

VBaptist History

It is sometimes asked, “When and where did Baptistsoriginate? Who were their founders? What is theirhistory?” These questions are very important questionsand need an honest answer.

To find the beginning of Baptist churches, one mustgo back to Christ and His apostles. All other churchesmust date their origin with men in recent centuries.Baptists are the only churches that had their beginningwith the ministry of the Lord Jesus when He built Hischurch out of the material prepared by John the Baptist.This will of necessity be a brief outline of Baptist history,but if you are interested in more detailed information,ask your pastor about books along this line. Let us nowlook to the beginning of Baptists.

Baptist Beginnings

1. Christ built His church during His personalministry here on earth. The Lord stated that this wasone of the things He came to do (Mt. 16:18). The word“church” in this passage speaks of the church as aninstitution and the church of Jerusalem was the firstchurch established and the prototype or pattern churchfor all other New Testament churches. Before the Lordascended into heaven He said that the work He hadcome to do was completed (Jn. 17:4; 19:30). Since building

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His church was part of the work He came to do, it wastherefore built. Though we cannot point to a specificScripture declaring that the church at Jerusalem wasorganized on a particular day, that it was organized bythe Lord during His personal ministry is evident from thefollowing.

The first members of the church were apostles (1Cor. 12:28). This church the Lord built had all theessentials of a church. It had a message (Mk. 16:15); anorganization (Acts 1:21-26); a form of discipline (Mt.18:15-18); a church roll (Acts 1:15); the ordinances (Mt.28:18-20); a commission (Mt. 28:18-20); a treasurer (Jn.12:6). It was a church prior to the day of Pentecost(Acts 2:42) for you can only add to that which alreadyexists, and it was a functioning church prior to the dayof Pentecost for the church elected Matthias as anapostle to take the place of Judas (Acts 1:15-26). Thatthis was a valid election by the church is attested to bythe Holy Spirit in Acts 1:26 for He says, “And they gaveforth their lots (votes); and the lot (vote) fell uponMatthias; and he was numbered with the eleven apostles.”The Holy Spirit further ratifies or shows His approval ofthis election on the part of the church in Acts 6:2 byincluding Matthias along with the original eleven saying,“Then the twelve.” The apostle Paul also recognized theelection of Matthias as a valid election (1 Cor. 15:5).

2. This church was a Baptist church, for Baptistchurches today are like it in organization, doctrine andpractice. This first church was organized out of materialprepared by the first Baptist preacher, John the Baptist(Jn. 1:6; Mt. 3:1, 13-17; Acts 1:22). A church organizedout of people baptized by a Baptist preacher must be aBaptist church (1 Cor. 12:28). Furthermore, Baptists alonecan trace their teachings and principles back through theages to Christ.

3. Churches like this first church have continuedto exist from that day to the present time. Christpromised that they would not cease to exist (Mt. 16:18;28:20). Those churches today which claim that they andthe churches of the Reformation have restored NewTestament Christianity overlook the fact that the churchJesus built would not have to be restored, for He promisedthey would not cease to exist. If these churches didcease to exist for a period of time, then Christ’s promisefailed, and we know that is not true or possible. Churcheslike the one Jesus built have existed in every age downto the present hour.

Historians of various denominations admit that Baptistshave existed through the ages since Christ. The followinglist of quotations are taken from the book BaptistDoctrine In One Year by M. L. Moser, Sr., pgs. 230-

236. [Available from the Challenge Press.]

Quotations Proving Baptist Antiquity

Cardinal Hosius, Roman Catholic, the president ofthe Council of Trent. Cardinal Hosius wrote in A.D.1554 and this dates Baptists back to at least 354 A.D.

“If the truth of religion were to be judged by thereadiness and boldness of which a man of any sectshows in suffering, then the opinion and persuasionof no sect can be truer and surer than that of theAnabaptists since there have been none for thesetwelve hundred years past, that have been moregenerally punished or that have more cheerfully andsteadfastly undergone, and even offered themselvesto the most cruel sorts of punishment than thesepeople.”

Zwingli, the Swiss reformer, co-worker with Lutherand Calvin in the Reformation of 1525:

The institution of Anabaptism is no novelty, butfor three hundred years has caused great disturbancein the church, and has acquired such strength that theattempt in this age to contend with it appears futilefor a time.”

Mosheim, Lutheran historian of great note:

“Before the rise of Luther and Calvin, there laysecreted in almost all the countries of Europe personswho adhered tenaciously to the principles of modernDutch Baptists.

Robert Barclay, Quaker, says:

“We shall afterwards show the rise of theAnabaptists took place prior to the Reformation ofthe Church of England, and there are also reasonsfor believing that on the continent of Europe smallhidden Christian societies, who have held many ofthe opinions of the Anabaptists, have existed fromthe times of the apostles. In the sense of the directtransmission of Divine Truth, and the true nature ofspiritual religion, it seems probable that thesechurches have a lineage or succession more ancientthan that of the Roman Church.”

Crossing the Centuries edited by William C. King,having as associate counselors, editors and contributors

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such as: Cardinal Gibbons, Roman Catholic; Bishop JohnH. Vincent, Methodist; President Theodore Roosevelt;President Woodrow Wilson; W.H.P. Founce, Presidentof Brown University; Albert Bushnell Hart, Ph.D.,L.L.D., Head of the History Department of HarvardUniversity; George B. Adams, M.A., Ph.D., Litt.D. ofYale, and many more such famous men, say:

“Of the Baptists it may be said that they are notReformers. These people, comprising bodies ofChristian believers, known under various names indifferent countries, are entirely independent of anddistinct from the Greek and Roman churches, andhave an unbroken continuity from apostolic daysdown through the centuries. Throughout this longperiod they were bitterly persecuted for heresy,driven from country to country, disfranchised,deprived of their property, imprisoned, tortured andslain by the thousands; yet they swerved not from theNew Testament faith, doctrine and practice.”

John Clark Ridpath, Methodist, author of thatmonumental work Ridpath’s History of the World, ina letter to Dr. W.A. Jarrell (Baptist Church Perpetuity,pg. 59) says:

“I should not readily admit that there were Baptistchurches as far back as A.D. 100, although withoutdoubt there were Baptists then, as all Christianswere Baptists.”

Alexander Campbell, founder of the “Christian”church or “Church of Christ” says:

“I would engage to show that baptism as viewedand practiced by the Baptists, had its advocates inevery century of the Christian era ... and independentof whose existence (the German Anabaptists), cloudsof witnesses at test the fact , that before theReformation from popery, and from the apostolicage, to the present time, the sentiments of Baptists,and the practice of baptism have had a continuedchain of advocates, and public monuments of theirexistence in every century can be produced.”

Sir Isaac Newton, learned English philosopher,student of the Scriptures and of history:

“The Baptists are the only body of knownChristians that have never symbolized with Rome.”

Edinburg Cyclopedia:

“It must have already occurred to our readers thatthe Baptists are the same sect of Christians thatwere formerly described as Anabaptists. Indeed thisseems to have been their leading principle from thetime of Tertullian to the present time.”

Tertullian was a Montanist. He was born aboutfifty years after the death of John the apostle.

Professor Wm. C. Duncan, of the Department ofGreek and Latin, University of Louisiana:

“Baptists do not, as most Protestant denominations,date their origin from the Reformation of 1520. Bymeans of that great movement they were brought outof comparative obscurity into prominent notice. Theydid not, however, originate with the Reformation; forlong before Luther lived; yea, long before the CatholicChurch itself was known, Baptist and Baptistchurches flourished in Europe, Asia and Africa.”

Charles H. Spurgeon, eminent Baptist pastor andprofessor:

“History has hitherto been written by our enemies,who never would have kept a single fact about usupon the record if they could have helped it, and yetit leaks out every now and then that certain poorpeople called Anabaptists were brought up forcondemnation. From the days of Henry II to those ofElizabeth we hear of certain unhappy heretics whowere hated of all men for the truth’s sake which wasin them. We read of poor men and women, with theirgarments cut short, turned out into the fields toperish in the cold, and anon of others who were burntat Newington for the crime of Anabaptism. Longbefore our Protestants were known of, those horribleAnabaptists, as they were unjustly called, wereprotesting for the ‘one Lord, one faith, and onebaptism.’ No sooner did the visible church begin todepart from the gospel than these men arose to keepfast by the old way. The priests and monks wishedfor peace and slumber, but there was always aBaptist or a Lollard tickling men’s ears with HolyScriptures, and calling their attention to the errors ofthe times. They were a poor persecuted tribe. Thehalter was thought to be too good for them. At timesill-written history would have us think that they diedout, so well had the wolf done his work on the sheep.Yet, here we are, blessed and multiplied; and

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Newington sees other scenes from Sunday to Sunday.As I think of the multitudes of your numbers andefforts, I can only say in wonder — what a growth!As I think of the multitudes of our brethren inAmerica, I can only say, What hath God wrought!Our history forbids discouragements.”

Dr. Dermont, chaplain to the king of Holland, andDr. Ypiej, professor of theology at Graningen, a fewyears since received a royal commission to prepare ahistory of the Reformed Dutch Church. This history,prepared under royal sanction, and officially published,contains the following manly and generous testimony tothe antiquity and orthodoxy of the Dutch Baptists:

“We have now seen that the Baptists, who wereformerly called Anabaptists ... were the originalWaldenses, and have long in the history of theChurch received the honor of that origin. On thisaccount, the Baptists may be considered the onlyChristian community which has stood since theApostles, and as a Christian society which haspreserved pure the doctrines of the Gospel throughall ages.”

Many more similar quotations could be given, butthese are sufficient to prove to the honest inquirer thathistorians, even of other denominations, admit that Baptistshave existed since the apostolic days.

4. Baptist churches alone find their beginningwith Christ. Three things must be true concerning thebeginning of the church in order for it to be a scripturalchurch. It must have the right founder — Jesus Christ(Mt. 16:18); the right place — Palestine (where Christlived); and the right time — during Christ’s personalministry. Any church that does not meet these threerequirements cannot be the church that the Lord built.

When and where did all these other denominationsbegin? The following table showing the origin and foundersof the various major denominations is prepared from thestatements of church historians and is listed in the bookBaptist Doctrine In One Year on page 237:

Roman Catholic..........................................................................610Greek Orthodox........................................................................1054Lutheran — Martin Luther......................................................1530Episcopal — Henry VIII..........................................................1530Presbyterian — John Calvin...................................................1541Congregational — Robert Browne.........................................1581Friends.....................................................................................1624Church of the Brethren (Dunkards) — Alexander Mack.......1708

Free Will Baptists — Paul Palmer...........................................1727Seventh Day Baptists — John C. Beissel...............................1727Methodist — John and Charles Wesley.................................1729United Brethren in Christ — P.W. Otterbein & M. Boehm...1800Evangelical — Jacob Albright................................................1800Cumberland Presbyterian — Ewing, King & McAdow..........1810Unitarians — W. E. Channing................................................1825Churches of God in N. America — John Winebrenner..........1825Plymouth Brethren — J.N. Darby...........................................1829Mormons (Latter Day Saints) — Joseph Smith......................1830Primitive Baptists — Daniel Parker.........................................1831Christian — Alexander Campbell............................................1837Church of Christ — Alexander Campbell...............................1837Christadelphians — John Thomas.........................................1844Seventh Day Adventists — James White...............................1845Spiritualism — Andrew Jackson Davis..................................1845Church of God (New Dunkards) — George Patton................1848Advent Christian Church — Jonathan Cummings.................1852Salvation Army — William Booth..........................................1865Jehovah’s Witnesses — Charles Taze Russell.......................1872Church of Christ Scientist — Mary Eddy Baker....................1879Church of God — Daniel S. Warner.......................................1880Christian & Missionary Alliance — A.B. Simpson...............1881Brethren Church......................................................................1882Swedish Evangelical Mission Covenant...............................1885Swedish Evangelical (Free Church)........................................1888United Evangelical..................................................................1894Ch. of Christ (Holiness) USA — W.H. Hoople & Bressee.....1907Federal Council of Churches (National C of Churches)........1907Churches of God, Holiness — K.H. Burruss..........................1914Assemblies of God..................................................................1914

What is true of the above listed churches is true ofall other denominations, as they also would fail to meetthese three requirements.

Baptists are the only churches that can meet theserequirements. No man this side of Christ can be namedas the founder of Baptists. Nor can any date this side ofHis personal ministry be pointed out, nor any locationoutside of Palestine be set for their beginning.

5. The Universal Church Theory. Some say thatall churches are members of the “Universal Church,”therefore, all churches are churches of Christ. Butaccording to the Bible, there is no such church as a“universal church.” The word “universal” is no whereused in connection with the Lord’s church. In fact, theword “universal” nowhere appears in the Bible. The onlychurches found in the New Testament are local churches,either as particular churches or the church as aninstitution. A church founded hundreds of years after

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Christ established His church does not become a NewTestament church simply by making the claim.

Baptists claim to be built on the foundation of theapostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself the chiefCorner-Stone (Eph. 2:20). But as important as thebeginning of the church is, the doctrines of the churchare of equal importance. Are the doctrines of Baptistsaccording to the teachings of the New Testament? Manythings which are old are not true. There are creeds andsects that boast a venerable antiquity, yet the Word ofGod utterly condemns them. Any organization that cannotclaim Christ for its founder and cannot match its doctrineswith the New Testament has no right to the name of aChristian (Baptist) church, no matter how old it may be.

Baptist history, though brief since most of it waswritten by their enemies, constitutes one of the mostinteresting chapters in the records of Christianity. Let ustrace briefly the high points of this history.

The doctrines of the gospel became corrupted duringthe apostolic age, and the ordinances soon thereafter.Many Jewish and Gentile converts brought into thechurches many of their old religious notions and soughtto incorporate them with the faith of Christ. These, alongwith many philosophical ideas of the times and with otherperversions of the truth, very early turned some of thechurches aside from the faith once delivered to the saints.Still the majority of the churches maintained the doctrinesand customs in their original purity. However, thosechurches which were strongest and most prosperous weremost exposed to corruption by alliances with the world.Following a period of extreme persecution in which therewere many martyrs, a nominal Christianity began to comeinto being and united both Church and State. With this,nominal Christianity lost its simplicity, its spirituality andits power, and a temporal hierarchy took over control ofthe nominal church. This was the great apostasy of theearly centuries which developed into the Catholic church.

But all the churches did not go off into this apostasyand departure from the truth. There were many churcheswho were true worshipers that kept the doctrine of thegospel and the ordinances in their New Testament purity,and this they continued to do throughout all the darkages of doctrinal and moral corruption which followed.They never were identified with the Catholic church,either Greek or Roman, nor did they ever form allianceswith governments or form hierarchies among themselves.These were all independent Baptist churches orcongregations without organization and with no other bondor union than a common faith and fellowship. Thesechurches took the Word of God as their guide and sawno scriptural example or justification for organized

Fellowships, Conventions or Associations. History hadtaught them that the great hierarchy of the RomanCatholic Church had begun on as simple a scale as anorganized Fellowship, yet grew through the Associationstage, through the Convention stage, to the powerful stageof a full-grown dictatorship under a Pope.

These independent Baptist churches or communitieswere called sects and stigmatized as heretics by thedominant church. We do not claim that all of thesechurches were perfect or free from errors (even as allBaptists are not today), but the majority of these churcheswere the best and purest defenders of the Christian faith,and were the only true representatives of New Testamentchurches existing during these centuries. In reality, thestate churches were the heretics, while those so-calledsects were the true successors of the New Testamentchurches.

Hixcox, writing concerning this group of Baptists says:

“They were defamed and oppressed, calumniatedand martyred because they bore witness to the truthof God and testified against the errors and vices ofthe so-called churches. History has never done themjustice, and perhaps never will; because history hasbeen too much written in the interest of their enemies,or from their standpoint. Tortured and tormented bythose who should have been their defenders, crownsand miters alike pledged to their destruction, theycould do nothing but suffer, and this they nobly did asChrist’s faithful witnesses.”

These early Baptists were known by various namesin different ages in different lands, but retained the samegeneral characteristics. In the first and second centuries,Messalians, Montanists, Euchites, were terms whichdistinguished some of these sects. In the third, fourthand fifth centuries arose the Novatians. Increasing withexceeding rapidity, they quite overspread the Romanempire, in spite of the cruel and destructive persecutionswhich they suffered. In the sixth century the Donatistsappeared, as a new form of existing sects, or a newphase of the old faith. They multiplied rapidly, spreadextensively, and long survived. In the seventh centuryappeared the Paulicians, attracting much attention, andcalling down upon themselves the wrath of the Catholicchurch. Still they increased greatly, notwithstanding theirmany persecutions.

We do not claim that all of these churches werefaultless, but they were the churches maintaining thetrue gospel and the New Testament practice of theordinances. Without a hierarchy or organization of any

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type, it is natural that they differed somewhat amongthemselves, even as Baptists differ today.

But in general they all took the New Testament asthe rule for their faith and practice. They held to a spiritualchurch membership and would only baptize those whowere regenerated. They denied the validity of the Catholicchurch and rebaptized persons received from them andhence were called Anabaptists. They rejected infantbaptism and baptized by immersion, as did the Catholicsduring those ages. It is said that the Empress Theodora,after having confiscated their property, caused no lessthan 100,000 to be cruelly put to death for no othercrime than their refusal to accept as valid the immersionsof the Roman Catholic church.

It was near the close of the tenth century that wefind these Anabaptists called Paterines. They too rejectedinfant baptism and spoke out against the corruptions ofthe Catholic church for which they suffered long andsevere persecutions.

In the eleventh and succeeding centuries theAnabaptists were called Waldenses, Albigenses, Vaudois,Cathari, and Poor Men of Lyons. These were new names,and names usually given by their enemies. They increased,even under their persecutions to a wonderful extent, andattracted the notice, if not the sympathy, of all Europe.

These various groups were not known by the nameBaptist, but they held and maintained the distinctiveprinciples which have always characterized Baptists, i.e.(1) The freedom to worship God according to the dictatesof one’s own conscience; (2) They denied the authorityof the Popes and the right of kings and governments tointerfere with the people in the matters of religions; (3)They rejected infant baptism and practiced immersion;(4) They held the Bible to be the only rule and authorityin matters of faith and practice; (5) They received intotheir churches only such as professed to having beenregenerated and promised to live a godly life.

It is conceded by all historians of note that suchchurches and groups did exist, separate from andpersecuted by the prevailing State churches and civilauthorities during all the ages from the apostles to theReformation. It is true that when the Reformation underMartin Luther and others broke out, some of theseincluded under the “umbrella” of Anabaptists did yield tothe influence of the reformers, and through sympathy,did what the Catholics had never been able to compelthem to do — abandon immersion for sprinkling andadopt infant baptism. However, these were only a smallminority, and the vast majority of these Anabaptistsmaintained their doctrines and practices during theReformation, requiring those who came to their

congregations from the Protestant churches to berebaptized. Thus they became the object of persecutionby the newly begun Protestant churches also.

VIBaptist Doctrine

As stated in a previous chapter, the validity of achurch is not only determined by its history, but also byits doctrine. We have already seen that Baptist historycan be traced back to Christ, but even if we could not,we can identify the Lord’s churches by their doctrines.

The history of Baptists can be seen as a strong “chainof sand” reaching from today back to the personal ministryof our Lord, each church being a separate grandule orgrain, separate and distinct from all others with noorganization or hierarchy to bind them together, butstrongly bound together by an agreement in doctrine.

Let us make it clear that it is not necessary for usto trace an unbroken succession of churches throughoutthese past twenty centuries. The fact that the Lord saidthey would not cease to exist (Mt. 16:18; 28:20) is proofenough that they have existed and do exist today whetherwe can trace their history or not. If we can identify thehoofprints of a horse on one side of a river and then findthe identical hoofprints on the other side of the river, weknow that the horse passed through the river whetherwe find his hoofprints in the river or not.

We cannot in this book take time to fully discuss thedoctrines of independent Baptists. However, a briefConfession of Faith has been drawn up by independentBaptists entitled the Orthodox Baptist Confession ofFaith . However, Baptists do not go to a “Confession ofFaith” to support their doctrines but to the Bible, but thiswill adequately show what Baptists believe, and you willnote that there are many Scriptures cited proving eachstatement. A check of these Scriptures prove that thedoctrines held by independent Baptists today are basedupon Scripture and are identical with the doctrines heldby the churches of the New Testament and as taught byour Lord and His apostles.

Orthodox Baptist Confession of Faith

1. GOD

We believe that there is one, and only one, true andliving God; that He is absolute in nature, perfect in

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attributes, holy in character, the maker and supreme rulerof heaven and earth; that He is infinite in wisdom,marvelous in power, and amazing in love; that He is holy,righteous, and true, worthy of all confidence and love;that He unites in Himself the infinite, the eternal, and theAlmighty Three — God the Father, God the Son, andGod the Holy Spirit; that the three persons of the God-head subsist in the same divine nature, essence and being;and that they are co-extent and co-equal in every divineattribute, each one executing distinct but harmoniousoffices in the great work of redemption.

Gen. 1:1; Dt. 4:39; Mk. 12:29; Gen. 17:1; Mt. 5:48;Isa. 6:3; 1 Chr. 29:11-12; Psa. 103:19; Rom. 11:33-34;Mt. 19:26; Psa. 19:9; Mt. 28:19; 1 Pet. 1:2-3; 1 Jn. 5:7;Ex. 3:14; Gen. 1:26 and Tit. 3:3-7

2. THE DIVINE TRINITY

1. God the Father. We believe that God the Fatheris the first person set forth in the Divine Trinity; that Heis almighty, merciful and just; that He is holy, righteousand true; that He is eternally existent, glorious in nature,possessing the attributes of omnipotence, omniscienceand omnipresence; and that He, in harmony with Hisdivine office, loves, provides, and protects, thus exercisingprovidential watchcare over the sons of men, andespecially a fatherly care over the children of God.

Mt. 28:19; Gen. 17:1; Mt. 19:26; Psa. 19:9; Isa. 6:3;Psa. 100:5; Prov. 15:3; Psa. 139:1-6, 13-14; 103:13; Mt.6:25-30; 10:29-31; 7:11.

2. God the Son — Virgin Born. We believe thatGod the Son is the second person set forth in the DivineTrinity; that He is Very God of Very God; that He isalmighty, merciful, and just; that He is holy, righteousand true; that He is eternally existent, glorious in nature,possessing the attributes of omnipotence, omniscience,and omnipresence; that God the Father, through the HolySpirit, is actually and eternally His divine Father, andMary the Virgin, is actually and innocently His humanmother; and that He, in harmony with His divine office,mediates, seeks, and saves, thus exercising the mediatorialoffice of redemption.

Mt. 28:19; Jn. 1:1-3, 14 and Isa. 9:6; Mt. 28:18; Tit.3:5-6; Jn. 8:15-16; 2 Cor. 5:21; Heb. 13:8; Phil. 2:6; Jn.2:24; Mt. 28:20; Lk. 1:35 and 2:7-14; 1 Tim. 2:5-6; Lk.19:10 and Jn. 3:16.

3. God the Holy Spirit. We believe that God theHoly Spirit is the third person set forth in the DivineTrinity; that He is almighty, merciful and just; that He isholy, righteous and true; that He is eternally existent,glorious in nature, possessing the attributes of

omnipotence, omniscience and omnipresence; that Herestrains the world, the flesh and the devil; that Hewitnesses to the Truth, convicts the lost, extols the Christ,and testifies to the righteous judgments of God; that He,in harmony with His divine office, comforts, teaches,testifies, preaches, guides, regenerates, empowers,sanctifies, and anoints, thus exercising the quickeningrole in the works of saving the lost and the supervisingrole in the life of the saved.

Jn. 14:16-17, 26; 15:26; 16:7-13; Heb. 9:14; 1 Pet.4:14; Isa. 40:12-15; 1 Cor. 2:10-12; Psa. 139:7-12; 2Thess. 2:6-7; Jn. 3:6, 8; Eph. 1:13-14; Acts 1:8; 1 Pet.1:2; Isa. 61:1.

3. THE DEVIL

We believe that Satan is an actual person, and not animaginary influence; that he once enjoyed high heavenlyhonors and glorious heavenly privileges; that he, throughpride, ambition, and self-will attempted to betray theAlmighty and brought down upon his head the judgmentof God; that he operates today as the god of this worldand the prince of the power of the air; that he is adiabolical inventor, an arch-deceiver, and the father ofall lies; that he is the greatest enemy, the mightiesttempter, and the most relentless accuser of the saints;that he shall one day be incarnated in the person of theAntichrist and in that role will finally meet the Christ inthe Battle of Armageddon; that there “the seed of thewoman shall bruise the serpent’s head”; and that heshall eventually be cast into the lake of fire, the eternalplace of punishment, prepared for the devil and his angels.

Job 1:6-12 and 2:1-7; Ezk. 28:12-19; Isa. 14:12-27and Gen. 3:14; 2 Cor. 4:4 and Eph. 2:2; Mt. 24:11 and2 Thess. 2:7-11; Jn. 8:44; 1 Pet. 5:8; Gen. 3:1-6; Rev.12:10; Dan. 7:8; Rev. 13:1-10; 19:20; Gen. 3:15; 2 Cor.11:13-15; Jn. 14:30; Eph. 2:2.

4. THE HOLY BIBLE

We believe that the Holy Bible is a supernaturalbook; that it is the very Word of God; that it is the full,the final, and the complete revelation of God’s will toman; that it has God the Holy Spirit for its author,salvation for its end, and truth in the original without anyadmixture of error for its matter; that it was written byholy men of old under the immediate and direct dictationof the Holy Spirit; that it is verbally inspired and a perfecttreasure of holy instruction; and that it reveals theprinciples by which God will judge us, and is, therefore,

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the true center of Christian union, and the supremestandard by which all human conduct, creeds and opinionsshall be tried.

Psa. 119:89; 2 Tim. 3:16-17; Rev. 22:18-19; Jn. 17:17;3:32-34; 2 Pet. 1:20-21; 1 Pet. 1:10-12; Zeph. 1:1; Psa.19:7-11; Ex. 20:3-17; Psa. 1:2; Jn. 12:48.

5. CREATION

We believe that the Genesis record of creation isliteral and not allegorical or figurative; that God personallycreated the heaven and the earth; that He miraculouslybrought forth all original matter out of nothing; that Heactually fashioned all organic forms as specific creationssubject to limited changes within the specie; that Hedefinitely ordained each specie to bring forth after itskind; that He finally formed man out of the dust of theground, not by any process of evolution but by instantaction, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of lifeand man became immediately a living soul; that Hecreated man in the image and likeness of God; that Hisevery creative act was complete and perfect in itself;and that not one of His creations was conditioned uponantecedent changes naturally wrought during interminableperiods of time.

Gen. 1:1; Jn. 1:1-3, 14; Heb. 11:3; Gen. 1:21, 24-27;2:7; Col. 1:15.

6. THE FALL OF MAN

We believe that man, originally created in holinessand actually associated with God in innocence under Hislaw, did, by voluntary transgression of the Lord’scommand, fall from the high and happy state in which hewas created, and, as a consequence, became a sinneralienated from God and brought upon himself and allmankind just condemnation; and that he is now, by virtueof his fallen nature, utterly void of holiness, positivelyinclined to evil, and actually condemned to eternal ruin,without defense or excuse.

Gen. 1:26-27; Eccl. 7:29; Gen. 3:6, 24; Ezk. 18:4;Rom. 5:12; 1:21-23; Rom. 3:10-18; Rev. 21:8.

7. THE BLOOD ATONEMENT

We believe that the lost sinner is guilty and alreadyunder the condemnation; that he is by nature alien toGod and because of sin condemned to die; that atonementfor sin was effected through the mediatorial office of theSon who by divine appointment, freely took upon Himself

our nature, yet without sin; that He, through obedienceduring His earthly walk, personally honored the divineLaw by keeping it, and, through His death on the cross,actually satisfied the penalty of the offended law bysuffering in the sinner’s stead; that He, through Hisobedience and sacrificial death, made full and vicariousatonement for all sin; that He died, the just for the unjust,bearing our sins in His body on the tree; and that He,through the shedding of His blood on the cross of Calvary,evidenced eternal provision for cleansing, for pardon,for peace and for rest.

Isa. 53:6; Rom. 6:7 and Rom. 8:23; 1 Tim. 2:5-6 andHeb. 2:17 and 2 Cor. 5:21; Mt. 5:17-18 and 1 Pet. 2:24;Heb. 10:10-12; 1 Pet. 3:18; Rev. 1:5; Isa. 55:7; Jn. 14:27;Mt. 11:28; 1 Jn. 1:7; Eph. 1:7 and Heb. 9:22.

8. REPENTANCE AND FAITH

We believe that repentance and faith are solemn andinseparable prerequisites of salvation; that they areinseparable graces wrought in the heart by the quickeningHoly Spirit; that the alien sinner, being deeply convictedof sin, of righteousness, and of judgment to come by thepersonal ministry of the Holy Spirit, and by Him havinghis understanding enlightened so that he can see the wayof salvation through Christ, does actually repent, turningto God with unfeigned contrition, confession, andsupplication, and does actually believe, surrenderinghimself wholeheartedly to the Lord Jesus, immediatelyreceiving Him as personal and all-sufficient Savior andopenly confessing Him before all men.

Acts 20:21-22 and Mk. 1:15; Acts 11:18 and Eph.2:8-9 and Jn. 6:44; 16:8-11; Mt. 3:1-2, 8; Acts 3:19; Lk.13:3 and Lk. 18:9-14; Acts 9:6 and Rom. 10:10.

9. SALVATION BY GRACE

We believe that grace is elective and saving, that itembraces the personal triune and redemptive ministry ofGod the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit;that it comprehends all of the labors put forth by theAlmighty in the interest of perfect righteousness and thesalvation of the lost soul; that i t encompassesforeknowledge, foreordination and predestination; that it,and it alone, saves even unto the uttermost all who repenttoward God and believe in the Lord Jesus Christ; andthat salvation thus wrought is wholly by grace, “the freegift of God,” requiring neither culture nor works in anyform to secure it or to keep it.

2 Tim. 1:8-9 and Eph. 2:8-9; Tit. 3:3-7 and 1 Pet.

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1:2-5; Mt. 23:37; Rom. 8:28-30; Heb. 7:25 and Acts 20:20-21; Rom. 6:23; 11:6; 5:20; Isa. 1:18 and 55:1.

10. REGENERATION

We believe that in order to be saved lost sinnersmust be regenerated or born again; that regeneration isa re-creative act, far beyond comprehension, wrought inthe believer’s heart by the direct personal ministry of theHoly Spirit; that it is instantaneous, miraculous, and non-evolutionary or cultural; that it embraces the divine actsof cleansing the heart from all inward sins and ofpardoning the soul of all outward guilt, in connection withthe work of begetting a new creature in Christ Jesus;that the dead sinner is made to live through the newbirth, becoming thereby a regenerated spirit, possessingeternal life, the gift of God; that the new birth comesafter the Holy Spirit secures voluntary repentance andbelief in the gospel; that it is the actual impartation of thedivine life, not a mere transformation of the human life;and that the proper evidence of regeneration appears inthe holy fruits of the obedient and willing faith of thefollowers of the Lord Jesus.

Jn. 3:3-5, 7; 2 Cor. 5:17; Jn. 3:8, 16; 1:12-13; Isa.1:18 and Tit. 3:5-7; Eph. 2:1, 5 and Rom. 6:23; Jn. 16:8-11; Mt. 7:16-18 and Jas. 2:17-20.

11. JUSTIFICATION

We believe that justification is one of the great gospelblessings secured through Christ for all who trust Him;that it is a legal and divine decree, declaring the believingsinner just; that it is thus a state of being free fromcondemnation, including forgiveness for inward sins andpardon for outward sins; that it secures through faithfreedom from legal bondage, exemption from the wrathof God, and possession of peace which passes allunderstanding; that it is bestowed, not in consideration ofany works of righteousness which we have done, butsolely upon the evidence of faith in God and theRedeemer’s blood; and that it brings us into a state ofunchanging peace and favor with God and secures everyother blessing needful for time and for eternity.

Rom. 3:24-25, 28; 8:33; 8:1 and Jn. 5:24 and Rom.4:3-8; 6:6; 5:9; 5:1 and Phil. 4:7; Rom. 8:31-33; Gen. 15:6and Heb. 2:4

12. THE SECURITY OF THE BELIEVER

We believe that salvation wrought by grace is

everlasting; that the saved soul journeying through thevalley of the shadow of death need fear no evil; that theHoly Spirit-begotten and born are kept by the power ofGod; that the believer in Christ Jesus shall not be broughtinto judgment; that no one can lay anything to the chargeof God’s elect; that they are securely held in both thehand of the Father and the Son; and that the age-oldBaptist doctrine, “once in grace, always in grace,” isheavenly and gloriously true.

Jn. 3:16, 36; 5:24; Jn. 6; Psa. 23:4; Isa. 37:23-24;Phil. 1:6 and 1 Pet. 3:5; Jn. 5:24 and Rom. 8:1; Jn. 10:27-29 and Rom. 8:31-33, 35-39 and 2 Tim. 1:12.

13. SANCTIFICATION

We believe that sanctification is a divine work ofgrace; that it is not a state of sinless perfection attainedthrough a “second blessing” or through a special “baptismof the Holy Ghost;” that it is an act of grace by whichthe believer is separated unto God and dedicated untoHis righteous purpose; that by it we enter into divinelyappointed privileges and thus become larger partakers ofHis holiness; that it is a progressive work, begun inregeneration, and carried on in the life of every believerby the presence and the power of the Holy Spirit and theWord of God; and that it is nurtured only by heaven’sappointed means, especially by the Holy Spirit, the Wordof God, and the saved through his self-examination,obedience, self-denial, watchfulness and prayer.

1 Thess. 4:3 and 5:23; Rom. 15:16 and Jer. 1:5; Prov.4:18 and Jn. 17:17 and 2 Cor. 3:18; 1 Jn. 2:29 and Rom.8:5; 1 Tim. 4:5; Lk. 9:23; Mt. 24:42 and 7:7-11.

14. THE LORD’S RETURN

We believe that Christ Jesus is coming back to earthagain; that His return shall be personal, audible, visibleand bodily; that it shall mark the advent of the “day ofthe Lord” and usher in the millennium; and that He shallin that day turn the tables on Satan, take up the throneof His father David, put down all of His enemies, rulewith a rod of iron, triumph over sin, and give the worldan example of righteous government during His thousandyears of personal reign on earth.

Job 18:25-26 and Isa. 9:6-7 and Zech. 14:4 and Mal.4:2 and Lk. 1:31-33 and Mt. 25:31-34; Rev. 19:11-21 andActs 1:11 and 1 Thess. 4:16-17 and Rev. 1:7; 2 Pet.3:10; Rev. 20:4-6; 19:20 and 20:1-3 and 10; Isa. 9:7; 1Cor. 15:25-27; Psa. 2:9 and Rev. 12:5 and 19:15; 1 Jn.3:8 and Psa. 72:1-20.

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15. THE RESURRECTION

We believe that Christ Jesus arose bodily from thegrave on the first day of the week, which day we nowobserve as the Lord’s Day, a day of worship; that Hismiraculous emergence from the tomb forecasted a likebodily resurrection for every member of the Adamic race;that the dead in Christ shall rise first and in glorifiedbodies like His; that they shall be caught up to meet theLord in the air; that the dead in trespasses and sins, orthe dead out of Christ, shall rise at the close of themillennium; and that they shall be brought before theGreat White Throne Judgment and there face the Judgeof the quick and the dead.

Mt. 28:6 and Lk. 24:1-12; 1 Cor. 15:12-22; 1 Thess.4:13-18; Rev. 20:5-6; 11:15; Dan. 12:3; 1 Sam. 2:6; Isa.26:19; Hos. 13:14 and Isa. 25:6-8.

16. INDIVIDUAL REWARDS

We believe that reward and salvation are not oneand the same thing. We believe that the Lord shall rewardHis own; that He Himself shall descend from heavenwith a shout; that the dead in Christ shall rise first; thata solemn separation shall take place; that the blood-washed and Holy Spirit-begotten shall be caught up tomeet Him in the air, and there be rewarded according tothe deeds done in the body; and that the place called theNew Heaven and the New Earth is ordained theeverlasting dwelling place of the children of God. Webelieve that the wicked are children of the devil; thatthey are rebels against God; that they reject the freeoffer of salvation through Christ; that they ignore thewooings of the Holy Spirit; and that they, as aconsequence, are hell-bound, being under a deathsentence; that they shall spend eternity in the Lake ofFire which burneth with fire and brimstone where theDragon, the Beast and the False Prophet are and shallever be.

1 Cor. 3:11-15; 1 Thess. 4:16-18 and Mt. 24:40-41and 13:47-50; 1 Cor. 3:8 and Rev. 21:1-8; Jn. 8:44; Rom.8:7; Jn. 3:18; Rev. 20:10-15 and Rom. 6:23.

17. THE RIGHTEOUS AND THE WICKED

We believe that there is a radical and essentialdifference between the righteous and the wicked. Webelieve the righteous are they who believe in Christ Jesus,the justified by faith, and the sanctified by the Holy Spirit

and the Word; that the righteous are heirs of God andjoint-heirs with the Lord Jesus Christ; and that eternallife, the gift of God, is the matchless possession of thejust. We believe that the wicked are they who do notbelieve in Christ Jesus, the condemned because of unbeliefand the corrupted by the god of this world; that theunjust spurn the privileges of God’s grace, choosing thelife of sin and rebellion; and that eternal damnation is theinescapable portion of the unjust.

Mal. 3:16-18 and Jn. 3:6; Rom. 3:22, 24 and 4:3 and1:17; 8:1-17 and Acts 20:32 and Jn. 15:3; Rom. 8:17;6:23; 2 Cor. 4:4; Rev. 21:8 and Mt. 23:37 and Prov. 29:1and Mt. 25:41.

18. THE LOCAL CHURCH

We believe that a New Testament church, accordingto divine purpose and plan, is a visible, local, organizedbody; that it is composed of baptized believers associatedtogether by a covenant of faith and fellowship in thegospel; that New Testament validity flows from strictobedience to essential principles of New Testament law;that it is a sovereign, independent, democratic and militantbody; that its ministry is gloriously blessed with thepresence and leadership of the Holy Spirit and the lightand revelation of the written Word; that its work shouldever be from within to without and never from withoutto within; that it is a self-governing body and is the solejudge, under the limitations of the Scriptures, of themeasure and method of cooperation; that it is the onlyecclesiastical tribunal the Lord has on earth; that itsjudgment concerning membership, missions, benevolence,cooperative alignments, and support is final; that it waspersonally founded by Christ Jesus during His ministryon earth; that it is subject to His laws and is the custodianof His ordinances; that the perpetuity of our faith, ourdoctrines and practices, ordinances and ordinations, hasbeen effected through the Holy Spirit personally plantingand preserving local Baptist churches of like faith andorder down through the centuries even until now [SeeChapter 5 on Baptist History].

Mt. 28:19-20; 1 Cor. 1:1-3; Acts 2:41-42; 2 Cor. 8:5;Mt. 16:19 and 18:15-17 and Jn. 14:16-17, 26; Acts 1:8and 13:1-4; Mt. 18:17-18; 16:18-19; 26:26-29 and 28:19-20; 1 Tim. 3:15; Mk. 3:13-14 and Lk. 6:12-13

19. ORDINANCES

We believe that Baptism and the Lord’s Supper areordinances personally set in the church of the living God

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by the Lord Jesus Christ. We believe that Baptism is theburial of a believer in water by the authority andinstruction of a local Baptist church; that it symbolizesthe death and the burial and the resurrection of the LordJesus Christ; that it also typifies the believer’s death tosin, the burial of his old nature, and his resurrection untoa new life; and that it is administered in the name of theFather, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. We believethe Lord’s Supper is a memorial spread and administeredby the authority and instruction of a local Baptist church;that it symbolizes the broken body and the shed blood ofthe Son of God; that its observance points backward tothe crucified Lord on Calvary and forward to the returningLord in glory. We believe that these ordinances are notsacraments, but are sacred symbols, pointing to theworld’s only Savior, and bidding the sons of men lookunto an everlasting fellowship with the King of kings andLord of lords when He shall return to take over the reinsof all government.

Mt. 26:26-29 and 28:19; Rom. 6:3-5 and Mt. 16:19and Acts 10:47; 1 Cor. 11:23-24; 11:24-25, and 26.

20. CHURCH ADMINISTRATION

We believe that the churches of God and the stateshould be kept completely separate; that civil officersshould be prayed for, conscientiously honored and obeyed;that diligence should be had in seeking the will of God inall church matters; that missionary endeavor should everbe executed from within the local church to without; thatpastors and deacons, the only divinely appointed churchofficers, should be duly ordained and brought to understandthe sacred duties devolving upon them; that the Lord’sDay, the first day of the week, should be honored bothby saint and sinner; that Bible teachings should beconstantly and consistently fostered by local churchbodies; that members should be deliberately andprayerfully voted into the fellowship of the local body;that unruly church members should be prayerfully andScripturally disciplined by the local church; and thatchurch letters should be granted to sister churches of thesame faith and practice.

21. CHURCH CO-OPERATION

We believe that it is the privilege and the right oflocal churches to co-operate with each other in carryingout the commission of the Lord; that such co-operationis righteously effected only when the principles of Christare preserved in the work fostered; and that all associated

endeavor of local churches should be carried on in sucha way as to preserve the sovereign integrity of eachlocal body in all matters of faith and practice.

2 Cor. 8:1-6, 16-24; 2 Jn. 1-4; Mt. 16:18-19 and Acts15:19-27.

VIIThe Ordinances

There are only two ordinances in the New Testament— Baptism and the Lord’s Supper. These are notChristian ordinances but church ordinances since theywere placed in the church by the Lord.

BAPTISM

There are at least four qualifications for Scripturalbaptism.

1. The proper subject — a saved person. Baptismis not necessary for salvation. There is not one passageof Scripture that teaches that baptism is necessary forsalvation, though some passages have been wronglyinterpreted to teach it. Every Christian should be baptized,not in order to save himself or to be saved, but becausehe is already saved (Acts 10:48; Mt. 28:18-20; Mk. 1:9;Mt. 3:15-17). Nor is there one passage of Scripture thatin any way teaches infant baptism either by word orexample.

2. The proper mode — by immersion. There isonly one baptism (Eph. 4:5), and this baptism is byimmersion. The Greek word for baptize means immerseand never means sprinkle or pour. Scriptures aboutbaptism make immersion absolutely necessary. (1)Baptism must be in water (Mt. 3:11; Mk. 1:5); (2) Inmuch water (Jn. 3:23; Mk. 1:9); (3) Going down intothe water (Acts 8:38); (4) Burial in water (Rom. 6:4;Col. 2:12); (5) Resurrection from the water (Rom. 6:5;Col. 2:12; (6) Coming up out of the water (Acts 8:39;Mk. 1:10).

3. The proper purpose — to show forth salvation,not to procure it. There are four aspects relative to thepurpose of baptism. It is to set forth the death, burial andresurrection to a new life in Christ (Rom. 6:4, 11);illustration by figure or symbol of salvation (1 Pet. 3:21);putting on a uniform showing that we are saved (Gal.3:27); in obedience to Christ’s command (Mt. 28:19-20).

4. The proper authority — a New Testamentchurch. A new believer needs the church because onlya New Testament church has the authority to baptize.

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Your neighbor cannot baptize you. Even an ordainedminister does not have the authority to baptize. You cannotget proper baptism anywhere else for it is a churchordinance, and only a New Testament church (Baptist)has the right to administer the ordinance. Also, one entersby baptism into the membership of the church whichperforms it.

Any so-called baptism that does not meet all four ofthese Scriptural requirements is not a valid or Scripturalbaptism. Such false or spurious baptisms are called “AlienBaptisms.”

THE LORD’S SUPPER

There are several passages of Scripture referring tothe Lord’s Supper with which you should be familiar:Mt. 26:26-29; Mk. 14:22-25; Lk. 22:19-20 and 1 Cor.11:17-29.

There are also certain questions that need to beanswered relative to the Lord’s Supper. (1) Whose Supperis it? The Lord’s (1 Cor. 11:20); (2) What is its purpose?A memorial of Christ’s death (1 Cor. 11:24-26); (3) Towhom was the Supper given? The church (Acts 20:7);(4) Who is elgible to partake of the Supper? Churchmembers only (Acts 2:41-42; 20:7).

Baptists believe in what is called “ClosedCommunion” and have been unjustly criticized and calledbigots, narrow-minded, etc. Is “Open Commission”Scriptural? Not according to the Apostle Paul. Paul inwriting to the church at Corinth says in 1 Corinthians11:18-20:

“For first of all, when ye come together in thechurch, I hear that there be divisions among you; andI partly believe it. For there must be also heresiesamong you, that they which are approved may bemade manifest among you. When ye come togethertherefore into one place, this is not to eat the Lord’sSupper.”

This passage clearly eliminates the possibility ofinviting other denominations to take the Lord’s Supperwith a Baptist church, for they hold and teach doctrinescontrary to Baptist doctrine and there would be divisionsand heresies present which Paul expressly forbids.

The Lord further limits the Lord’s Supper to thosewho are members of the particular church observing theordinance. When the New Testament tells of the Lord’sSupper being observed it says the church did it (1 Cor.11:18; Acts 20:7). Paul says in 1 Corinthians 11:18, “Forfirst of all, when ye come together in the church ...” not

meaning a church building, but in church capacity. Thislimits the observance to those who are members of thechurch observing the Lord’s Supper, not even to thosewho may be visiting from other Baptist churches. Paulalso declared that one who is to partake of the Lord’sSupper must be under the discipline of the church (1Cor. 5:11-13) and only those who are members of thechurch are under the discipline of the church. Open orClose Communion is impossible for one who wishes tobe obedient to the Scriptures. Only Closed Communionis Scriptural.

Therefore we not only need the church to be obedientin baptism but also to observe the Lord’s Supper. It isthe Lord’s church and they are His ordinances, and Hedesires to have them observed only within the membershipof a church. Neglecting the church we miss out on thebeautiful picture of the death of our Lord — the Lord’sSupper.

VIIIBaptists and Protestants

It is customary for the world to divide Christendominto two groups, Catholics and Protestants, and Baptistsare listed among the Protestants. This is an incorrectclassification since Baptists belong to neither group.Catholicism developed in the early centuries, whileProtestantism arose in the Reformation as a protest againstCatholicism. Baptists were in the world long before eitherProtestants or Catholics appeared [See chapter on BaptistHistory].

But what should our relationship be with otherdenominations? What should our attitude be toward them?In answering these two questions, there are two thingsthat must be considered first.

I. Is One Church Better Than Another Church?

Occasionally a member of a Baptist church joins achurch of another denomination. If you ask them why,they may respond, “I don’t think it makes any difference,just so you are saved. After all, one church is just asgood as another.” This sounds very good, but is it true?

It is true that the first thing is salvation. Every personwho has repented and trusted Jesus Christ as his personalLord and Savior is saved, regardless of his churchmembership. We believe that there are saved people in

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many other denominations, but they have all been savedthe same way. If they have not repented and believed,they are lost, the same as any Baptist who has notrepented and believed. So when we state that one churchis better than another, we are not talking about salvation.

There are hundreds of denominations and churchesin the world today teaching almost every kind of doctrineconceivable. Since all do not teach the same thing, theycannot all be right. In fact, many of their teachings arein direct conflict, one church teaching a doctrine thatanother denies. Can they both be right? If not, one mustbe wrong and the other right, or they both might bewrong. But if one is right in its teaching, then it must beadmitted that the one that is right is a better church thanthe one that is wrong.

The following four statements will help clarify thewhole matter.

1. A church set up by the Lord is better thana church with a human founder. As we have shownin another chapter of this book, Christ did build a prototypeor pattern church during His personal ministry on theearth and He promised that like churches would continueto exist through all the ages until His Second Coming.These churches are on the earth today, and certainlymust be better in the sight of God than any humaninstitution that is not of divine origin. Since Baptistchurches have existed since the days of Christ and theapostles, they must be more pleasing to the Lord thanchurches which can only trace their origin back a fewyears or a few centuries.

2. A church that teaches truth is better thanone that teaches error. There are varieties of doctrinestaught in churches today, some of them denying the Bibleas the infallible and inerrant Word of God and othersdenying that Jesus Christ was God’s only begotten Son.Some deny an existence beyond the grave and deny theresurrection. Can a church that teaches one or more ofthese heresies be as good as one that teaches truth?Emphatically not! Other churches may not go so far intheir false teachings, but do teach doctrines that are nottrue to the Word of God. Certainly such churches cannotbe as good as a church that accepts and teaches thewhole Word of God and takes as its doctrines only theteachings found in the Scriptures. Independent Baptistsdo believe the whole Bible and teach all that it teacheswithout one addition or subtraction of truth.

3. A church that teaches all the truth is betterthan one that teaches only part of the truth. Thereare many churches that teach some things that are trueteachings of the Word of God. But we must contend achurch that teaches all the Bible is better than one that

teaches only a part of it. Independent Baptists believeand teach the whole Word of God.

4. A church whose only authority is God isbetter than a church that refuses to obey Christ’scommands and takes for doctrines the com-mandments of men. Independent Baptists seek to beobedient to Christ in all things. For this reason we believethat independent Baptist churches are better than theBaptist churches affiliated with the various human orman-made organizations for the Scriptures are absolutelysilent about such organizations and the only example wehave in the Scriptures are independent Baptist churches.Such organizations as Conventions, Associations, organizedFellowships are extra-scriptural and foreign to the Wordof God, so that a Baptist church that is independent ofman-made organizations is better than one that refusesto obey Scriptural examples by remaining independent.

I believe that a careful study of these four points willconvince the reader that one church cannot be as goodas another church in the sight of God, even among Baptistchurches.

II. What Should Be the Attitude of Baptists Toward Other Christians?

The fact that one church is better than another doesnot mean that we cannot have Christian fellowship withall other true Christians, for all saved are brethren inChrist or “children of God by faith in our Lord JesusChrist” (Gal. 3:26). However, recognizing their right toworship God as they see fit, we cannot approve of theirfalse doctrine or practice. We believe in Christian unity,but unity must be based on the acceptance of all of thetruth of God’s Word, and Baptists can never enter intounion with those who teach false doctrines.

Our attitude is not one of arrogance, but God clearlysets forth in Scripture that we must not enter into unionwith error. It is only in this light and in this spirit thatBaptists can maintain a pure witness and testimony tothe world.

IXFinancing God’s Church

God is a God of order (1 Cor. 14:40). He has alwaysworked by plans. He had a plan when He made theuniverse; He had a plan for the making of man and theestablishing of the human family on earth; He had a planfor salvation and a plan for the work of His church. It

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would seem strange indeed if God should have a plan foreverything else, and yet left no plan for the financing ofHis church.

God’s plan never authorized churches to use worldlyschemes to raise money for the support of His work.Such practices as church-sponsored sales, dinners, raffles,bazaars, garage sales, chili suppers, ice cream suppers,bingo, etc. to raise money is certainly not God’s plan.There is no such system found in the Bible as highpressure campaigns, nor did God intend for His churchesto become beggars, going out into the world to beg forfunds. Such schemes and practices are a disgrace to thechurch and certainly are not pleasing to the Lord.

God has given us only one plan for financing Hischurches and that is by the tithes and offerings of Hispeople. Tithing may be a strange word to some, but it isa Bible word. The tithe is the tenth, meaning that God’speople are to bring a tenth of their incomes to the Lordfor His work. It is the practice today for deductions tobe made from the income for most people before theyreceive their pay check. Let us remember that your salaryor income is the total or gross amount you make beforethe deductions are made, and the tenth or tithe shouldbe paid on the gross amount. Offerings are the amountsthat are given over and above the tithe. This is the planthat God teaches all through His Word and it is the onlyScriptural plan of church finance.

The key verse on New Testament church finance isfound in 1 Corinthians 9:13-14 which reads thus:

“Do you not know that they which minister aboutholy things live of the things of the temple? and theywhich wait at the altar are partakers with the altar?Even so hath the Lord ordained that they whichpreach the gospel should live of the gospel.”

Paul here refers us back to Numbers 18:21-28 whichdescribes for us the manner in which the temple worshipand the Priests and Levites were supported through thetithes and offerings of the people. God commanded allthe people to bring their tithes and offerings to Him andthese were used for the support of the Lord’s work.Paul’s next words are even so, which means in thesame manner. So Paul says that the work of a NewTestament church is to be supported in the same waythat the temple was supported, that is by the tithes andofferings of the people. Even as all the people backthere were to bring their tithes and offerings unto theLord, so are we today.

Other passages which clearly teach that this is God’splan for each one of us, are as follows:

I. Tithing Before the Law of Moses.Genesis 14:18-20 reads, “And he gave him tithes of

all.” In this passage we have the record of Abrahampaying the tithe unto Melchizedek, the priest of God.Some claim that tithing was just a part of the MosaicLaw, but in this passage, we see tithing being practicedsome four hundred years before the Law. Abraham hadbeen taught by the Lord to tithe, either directly or throughothers who had previously been taught by Him.

Genesis 28:22 reads, “Of all that thou shalt give meI will surely give the tithe unto thee.” This is a promiseto the Lord by Jacob that he would tithe and this too waslong before the Law of Moses.II. Tithing Under the Law.

1. The tithe was incorporated into the Law as seenin the following passages:

“The tithe is the Lord’s. It is holy unto the Lord”(Lev. 27:30). Certainly if the tithe belonged to the Lordthen, it belongs to the Lord now. Also, if it was holy untoHim then, it is holy unto Him now.

Numbers 18:24, 26, 28. These three verses teach usthat the means of supporting the priests and the worshipwas to be by the tithe. The priests themselves were alsorequired to tithe as were the Levites (Heb. 7:9).

2. Tithing was practiced under the law: 2 Chr. 31:5-6, 12; Neh. 10:37-38.

3. Tithing for the support of God’s houses of worship.When the Tabernacle of the Lord was established, titheswere given to support it (Num. 18:23-24). When thetemple replaced the tabernacle, tithes were given insupport of it. It was called the storehouse. This is whatis called storehouse tithing.

4. Those who failed to tithe were condemned by theLord of being guilty of sin. Note the following Scriptures:In Amos 4:4 the people were charged with failing totithe. In Malachi 3:8-9 those who failed to pay their tithewere called God-robbers. In the next two verses Godchallenged the people to try tithing and promised theLord’s blessings for it.III. Tithing In the New Testament.

In the New Testament we no longer have the temple;it has been replaced by the church. Even though this hastaken place, God’s plan for financing His work has notchanged. One tenth of the income of a Christian is to begiven to the Lord by bringing it to the storehouse, thechurch, every Lord’s Day.

Three passages of Scripture need to be noted. Theseare: Matthew 21:23 and 23:23 along with Malachi 3:1-4.The passage in Malachi contains a prophecy predicting

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that the Lord would come and teach the people how togive righteously and acceptably. This prophecy is thenfollowed by the charge that they have robbed God infailing to give their tithe. Matthew 21:23 and 23:23 is thefulfillment of this prophecy. The Lord teaches them inthese passages that if their giving is to be acceptablethey must tithe and also keep the weightier matters ofthe law, judgment, mercy and faith. In other words, justgiving the tithe is not sufficient, there must be right livingalso.

In Matthew 23:23 the Scripture says “ye ought” totithe. If the Lord says “ye ought” to tithe, who are weto say “ye ought not?”

Compare 1 Corinthians 9:13-14 with Numbers 18:24.Paul teaches us that the work of the church and theministry should be supported in the same manner thatworship was supported in the Old Testament, that is bytithes and offerings.

In 1 Corinthians 16:2 we find clearly taughtproportionate giving, “as God hath prospered you.” Theonly proportion found in the Bible is the tenth or thetithe.

In Hebrews 7:1-8 we have another passage dealingwith the subject. Verse 8 says, “And here men that diereceive tithes; but there he receiveth them, of whom itis witnessed that he liveth.” The “men that die” refersto the Levitical or Mosaic priests. The “he” refers toChrist as a fulfillment of the priesthood of Melchizedek.As the people paid tithes to the Levitical priests, so nowthey pay tithes to Christ as the greater priest. Tithes andofferings are paid to Him today through His church.Storehouse tithing is still to be practiced today.

The above passages show clearly that God’s plan ofchurch finance is for His people to bring His tithes toHis house for His work. Everyone who has an income,no matter how small it may be, is expected by God totithe. 1 Corinthians 16:2 says, “Upon the first day of theweek let every one of you lay by him in store as Godhath prospered him.” With God it is everyone.

It needs also to be pointed out that the tithe must bebrought to God’s storehouse. God’s storehouse today isHis church. You have no right to use God’s tithe in anyway you want or to send or give God’s tithe to anybody,no matter how worthy the work they may be doing.

It is not proper to give the tithe to a television orradio evangelist, a Bible college, magazine, newspaper,or even to a friend in need. You have no right to buysomething and donate it to the church using your tithe.In the New Testament, everything that was done withmoney was done through the church. When a specialoffering was to be taken for needy Christians in Jerusalem

it was brought to the church and laid up in store until itcould be taken to help those in trouble (1 Cor. 16:1-3).

Notice how the church is called the storehouse justlike the temple before it. The money was to be broughtto the church and laid up “in store.” This is God’s built-in plan for the support of His work both in the OldTestament and today.

The tithe properly belongs in the church (storehouse)where you are a member. If the church where you holdyour membership is not worthy of your tithe, it is notworthy of your membership either, and there may beoccasions when it is better to have your membership ina church in another city and to put your tithe there, thanto have your membership in a church that supportsliberalism or modernism. God holds every Christianresponsible for what he supports, and your responsibilitydoes not cease after it has been given to your church. Ifyour church supports modernism or liberalism in anyfashion, then God will hold you responsible for its support.Read our book “The Unequal Yoke” published by TheChallenge Press which discusses Christians supportingmodernism and liberalism with their money.IV. Summary.

This plan of church finance would meet all of thefinancial needs of a church if every member would tithe.This would make possible the payments of our debts, agreater expansion of all phases of our local church work,and at the same time provide far more money formissions. If every Christian would join one of God’sNew Testament churches and tithe to it, we would notsee the financial difficulties that plague so many churchestoday. The great blessings on the members for theirfaithfulness as stewards of the Lord would beimmeasurable.

We need the church if we are to tithe to it. It iswrong to hold back that which God says is His. He saysthat the tithe is His, and to keep it back is to rob Him(Mal. 3:8-10). It is wrong to be saved and not belong toa good church where you can bring your tithes into thestorehouse as God desires. We need the church in orderto be able to give correctly. From all this, one can seehow God’s plan for a new Christian from the very first,involves the church. We need it to be baptized, to observethe Lord’s Supper, and to properly give to the Lord.God’s way is the best way. Let every member resolvenow not only to live right, but also to give right.

A person from a foreign country visiting with a friendin this country noticed his friend placing an offering inthe offering plate at church. He asked, “Do you have topay to go to church?”

“No,” was the reply, “but I give 10% of my income

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to the church for God’s work.Sometime later, after eating a meal at a restaurant,

the visitor also saw his friend placing money at his plateand asked about it. He was told, “it is customary toleave a 15% tip for the waitress.”

The visitor then said, “Oh, then you think more ofher service than you do of God’s!”

Do you tip the waitress more than you give to God?

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